Xam's Story
by T-Bones158
Summary: For Ms. Ador and Rose: Max 2 was never really killed off by JP, so here's my take on her life years after book three. She falls in love and lives a normal life, or as normal as you can get for a clone of a bird kid. Max2/OC. M for Lemons in begining.sorry
1. Chapter 1

**AN: the following Fic has been requested by Ms. Adorable and Rose. It may be more then a one shot. It also contains lemons. You have been warned. Read anyway though. It should be good.**

**I don't own Max II....I wish I did.**

* * *

**Max II POV**

I escaped! Yes! No more hearing about _Maximum Ride_ or her stupid Flock. Freedom! Thy name is bliss!

I'll bet you're wondering what the Hell is going on.

Let me explain as best I can. My name, or rather designation, is Maximum Ride II. I'm a clone of Maximum Ride. I used to hate her for being her clone. But I had an epiphany recently. I don't have to hate her. I can strongly dislike her, but I don't have to hate her. I can hate _them_ though. The ones who stole four years of my life. I was only four or five, but I looked eighteen or nineteen. I never had the chance to really be a teenager, or a child for that matter. My mind was also genetically enhanced. I knew more then a normal Nineteen-year-old girl should. But hey, I also had wings.

Yeah, you read that right. I have wings. They're brown and have white speckled dots over them. I have a 14-foot wingspan. That makes sense considering I'm only about 5' 7" or 5' 8". My weight will be kept to myself; I'm still a girl after all. My figure is well built, due to my mutated metabolism. Let me give you a better description so you can "see" me. I'm not exactly Pamela Anderson, but I'm pretty well off; I'm skinny, but not anorexic, and I have some muscle on my body; my hair is brown with blonde streaks running through it; and my eyes are brown. I hate how I look. It's not even me. It's all how Max looks, or how she is supposed to look anyway. I wouldn't know, I haven't been sent after her for, what is it? Three years now? Maybe four.

I escaped the Laboratory. A section of Itexicon, Itex for short, the company that made Max and I. The ones that made my life possible and a living hell. They decided to go ahead and try, key word being _try_, to execute me. I escaped my binds and bolted. I still had no clue where I was, though. It seemed like somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains, so obviously I'm on the East coast. I swooped down to get a better view of the area. I almost flew right into a busy highway, shows how coordinated I am.

I followed the highway north; something was pulling me towards the north.

_Cleveland_, a voice said in my head. Wait a minute. Now I have a voice, too? Damn, Max. Damn her to Hell.

_Help is in Cleveland_, the voice said. Wow, how helpful.

_What are you talking about?_ I asked the voice. ...no response. Figures.

"Looks like I'm going to Cleveland," I muttered under my breath.

I followed the turnpike until an exit for Cleveland finally showed itself. Once it gave me the direction I needed and the distance, I ditched the highway. Damn, Cleveland is far away.

I flew for what felt like days, but was most likely hours. I wasn't starved at the Laboratory for some reason. They treated me like a human, especially on my termination day. They fed me like a queen. A whole lot of food, because that's the only thing that my mutated metabolism causes me to have. A very large appetite. They're mistake, my big break. Hey, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.

Eventually I saw a sign that said, "Welcome to Cleveland!"

Thank god. That was one of my longest flights yet. Now what?

_Go to __Progressive Field_ the voice said again. This is getting ridiculous.

_Okay, Why?_ I asked. Shockingly, there was no answer. Whoever is freaking doing this is sooo on my next to die list. Right after that annoying purple dinosaur. They must suffer.

Once I rested long enough (about an hour, maybe longer) I made my way to Progressive Field. Why I trusted the random voice in my head, I don't know. But something in my gut, waaaay deep down, told me to trust it. I made it to Progressive Field in time to see people start to walk out. Guess I missed the game. I walked on, going towards the parking garage.

Cars drove past me until the garage looked dead empty. I knew there was still more coming, I could hear them on the roof of the complex. I kept walking through the garage until I was roughly grabbed from behind.

"Well, well," A male voice said, "Look here boys. A lost girly. Looks like she just escaped the loony bin. You know how great crazy girls are. I say we find out just how crazy she can be."

I saw two more guys step into my peripheral vision. One had a knife. I almost laughed. They really thought they could rape me? With just a knife? Man, what a bunch of morons.

I brought my elbow up and jerked it back into my holder's ribcage. I heard a crack. He grunted and released me, the other two advanced. I brought my left leg to the guy on my left's stomach. He yelped, what a bunch of pansies! Is this all they got?

"Fuckin' Bitch!" my Once-captor exclaimed, "I think she broke my ribs."

"Let's see how she likes it," the only guy left standing said. He lunged at me with his knife.

I sidestepped his lunge and grabbed his wrist. I twisted it until it was broken.

"Fuck!" the Knife guy exclaimed, "Bitch broke my wrist. Fuckin' Crazy ass bitch!"

He stumbled into the light, letting me get a better look at him. He was Caucasian and had short red hair. Some of it was streaked blue. God, normal people are freaks.

"Wow," I said, "Really? That's it? That's so freaking sad."

"Fuck you bitch," The Red haired guy said, "Johnny, tag her."

I was wondering who he was talking to, and what the hell he meant when I hear a gunshot ring out. I felt pain in my lower right side. I placed my hand on my side and felt it touch something wet. Blood. My Blood. I was bleeding.

The next thing I know, I'm on my side on the floor. I pressed my hand against the pain. It hurt. I never knew it could hurt so much when you were shot. God, make it stop! It hurt.

"Yo, Sheezy!" Broken-rib guy said, "'nother car. Let's forget this bitch and get outta here."

Red-hair smirked at me and said, "Yeah, guess we'll have to go find fun somewhere else. Come on."

The three of them started to leave, they ran, or limped, away. I heard tires screech and a car door open, music blaring form the car. I wanted badly to roll to my other side and look at the car, but the thought of moving hurt. I heard footsteps.

"Call 911!" A guy's voice said, "She's bleeding!"

I felt gentle hands turn me on my back. I actually whimpered at the pain of moving.

"You'll be okay," A girl's voice said, "The paramedics are on their way."

My eyes snapped open and adrenaline entered my system, three times as fast. If the paramedics showed up, the Laboratory would find me. If the Laboratory found me, I'd be terminated.

"*cough* No," I said weekly. I pried my eyes open to see three faces over me.

One was a girl. Her face was narrow and she had a cleft chin as well. She had blue eyes and long strawberry blonde hair. Her right eyebrow was pierced with a small gold ring. She had hardly any makeup on, from what I could tell, aside from some red lipstick. She spoke up.

"What?" She asked. I shook my head weakly.

"*cough cough* No paramedics," I said weakly again. God I sounded pathetic. One of the other faces, a man, shook his head.

"What is she, nuts?" he said. He had a very light brown hair and it was cut short. His eyes were green and his face was...I guess chiseled is how you would describe it. "Hot" to some girls, not to me. He had no other really noticeable features.

"Shut it, Todd," the same male voice from earlier said, "Now's not the time to be funny."

"You're one to talk Tom," Todd muttered. Tom rolled his eyes and looked back at me.

"Why don't you want paramedics?" he asked. I looked him over. He wasn't "hot" like Todd was. He looked...well, like a normal person. But then again, they all look alike to me.

His face was rounded and he had hazel eyes. His hair was hidden by a navy blue baseball cap that was backwards, which meant his forehead was also covered. I saw dark brown sideburns though...about five millimeters in width and length. So he either dyes his hair...or he's also a brown haired guy. He had light brown fuzz going down his jaw, hardly noticeable from a distance. You could say he was rather handsome.

"Hey," the girl said again, "wanna answer him?"

"Can't go to the paramedics," I said, the adrenaline making me feel better. They all looked at each other and then back to me.

"You kind of have to," Tom said, "In case you haven't noticed...you're sorta bleeding out. Dying if you will."

I smirked at his cruel humor. He smiled back.

"She can't be all bad if she's smiling," Todd said. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Yeah well, you try to not smile at Tom's twisted sense of humor," The girl said. Tom put a hand on his chest and looked at the girl.

"You think I have humor?" he said in mock shock, "Wow, Abby, I'm touched."

"Can we focus here?" Abby said, "She's losing blood fast."

Tom rolled his eyes again. Then he looked at me with concern, before it switched to an "I have an idea" like look.

"So no paramedics, huh?" He asked. I nodded, and then coughed again.

"Hmm," he said, "You'll just have to come with us then."

"What!?" the rest of us, myself included, exclaimed. He shrugged.

"Well, yeah," Tom said, "Abby, you're a trained nurse. Why not help her out?"

"I am already stupid," Abby said, "we're using your Sweatshirt to keep the blood from gushing out."

"I know that," Tom said in a Duh manner, "but we can go ahead and just wrap her up back at the apartment. Seeing as she doesn't want to go with the paramedics. I say we help her at home."

"I say you're stupid _and_ crazy," Todd said, "You trying to score on this chick?"

Tom looked at me and winked, it was so fast I barely saw it. He turned to Todd and smirked, "Maybe. Maybe not."

"Can we just take her back?" Tom said, "Come on, please?"

He jutted his bottom lip out, Todd groaned and Abby froze. Her shoulders slumped.

"Fine," Abby said after a second, "But you just volunteered your bed Tom. Get nice and comfy on the couch tonight. Got it?"

Tom held up a two fingered salute. Abby and Tom carefully helped me get to my feet. I got a better look at Tom. He stood about an inch taller then me and was fairly built. Tom started to chuckle to himself. Abby looked over to him.

"What now?" She asked exasperated. They both helped me walk back to the car. I put more pressure on my side, and I didn't feel any blood seep out. I wonder if I've clotted already.

"It's just, careful," Tom said getting me into the car he sat on my other side in the back, "it's just that, I was scolding myself for checking her out for a second before I realized she was actually looking me over."

I narrowed my eyes at him. To my irritation he copied me, but he was smiling.

"What?" he asked smugly. I growled and he started to laugh harder.

"Oh, chillax," Tom said, "I was just checking you out. Guys do it. I just never caught a girl doing it to me. I'm actually quite flattered."

My eyes widened a second and I felt heat rush to my face. What the Hell was this about?

"Buckle her in, Tom," Todd ordered from the front, "You have just now made yourself this chick's personal bitch."

Tom snorted, "oh, then can you give me pointers on being whipped? Thanks Todd."

Did they forget I was still amongst the living and I could hear their conversation? I almost spoke up, but Tom leaning over me to grab the seatbelt shut me up completely.

"And now we buckle ya in," Tom said, doing just that, "there we go."

He then turned to his own buckle and clicked himself in. Then he shivered.

"Dude, turn the heat on," Tom said. I hadn't noticed it was cold, why did he?

"Man, shut up," Todd said, "just relax."

"You know I can't," Tom said, "I'll fall asleep."

"Hey," Abby's voice snapped me back to attention, "what's your name anyway?"

"I, um, uhh," I answered. Do I tell her my name?

"Her name's Max." Tom answered. I gaped at him, _how did he know?_

"How do you know, T?" Abby asked. Tom shrugged.

Her tattoo on her left heel," Tom said, "It says Max II...Why in the hell would you get a tattoo like that?"

"Uhh," I said oh so smartly. Tom just shook his head.

"Maybe it's better if I don't know, you know?" He said. Then he turned his attention back to the front.

"Todd, put on my CD," Tom said.

"Fuck you, Tom" Tom gasped loudly.

"Ooohh," he said, "you sweareded! Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. For shame."

I laughed quietly at that. Tom smiled a little brighter.

"Come on, dude," Tom said, "I'll loan you my book."

"For a week?" Todd asked. Tom shook his head.

"A day," Tom said. Todd snorted.

"Five days," Todd said.

"Two," Tom replied.

"Three take it or leave it," Todd said. Tom sat back and his face turned into one of concentration.

"If I can choose the radio and music for the next two, then deal," Tom said. Todd nodded.

"Done," Todd said. Abby snorted.

"Can we please focus on getting back to the apartment?" She asked. I nodded my agreement. I was still sore.

"Here," Tom said, unbuckling himself and scooting closer to me, "can't be fun to lean like that. Lean on me."

I turned my head to meet his face and he was impassive. He was serious?

"Or not," Tom said, "that's cool. Invitation's open."

I rolled my eyes and looked back out the window, and then my eyes drooped. Then some music started up and I felt a bouncing feeling on my right. Coming from...Tom?

He was bouncing slightly in his spot, eyes closed, and bobbing his head, singing along quietly.

"I'm a Cowboy, bad assed and black singing," Tom sang quietly to himself. His bouncing died down but his head bobbing didn't.

"From side to side from front to back say, I put Detroit City back on the map by singing, Kid Rock's in the house and that's. Where. I'm. At."

I continued to stare at him; he never once noticed my stare. He just kept his eyes shut and sang to the next song. This continued, until Abby broke me from my musings.

"He likes music," Abby said, "a lot. He just likes to zone out to music in car rides. If he suddenly appears on your shoulder, just push him off. He'll pass out to the right song."

"Really?" I asked. I looked back at Tom; he was completely ignoring our conversation. Just bobbing his head, like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Yup," Abby said, "When he wouldn't go down for a nap as a baby his parents took him for a drive. He passed out immediately. Happens all the time. He's not allowed to drive on any road trips. But that's not why I started to talk to you."

"Then why did you want to talk?" I asked narrowing my eyes. She rolled hers.

"Um, your gunshot wound," Abby said pointing at it, "we're almost home. I just wanted to know how you were feeling."

"Oh," I said my glare lightening. I moved Tom's sweatshirt from it's spot and checked. The hole was gone! Oh my god! I can't let them see, they'll freak.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Tom spoke up from my right. Oh shit.

"Whoa!" he said, I could tell he was looking at my right side.

"What?" Abby asked. Tom ran a hand over his eyes.

"Her gunshot wound...it's gone," he said. I gulped.

"What!?" Abby exclaimed. She started to peer back here, but Tom shook his head.

"We'll get a better look at home," he said. Can you believe my luck?

"Fine," Abby huffed.

Tom turned his attention to me. He narrowed his eyes a little, in a thinking gesture. Then his eyes widened.

"Holy Shit." He mouthed. He averted his eyes back to the front. I grew worried, until a dark shadow caused me to look ahead. We were in a parking spot.

"We're here," Todd spoke up. He and Abby got out. Tom hurriedly followed and got out. I had to leave before-

"Come on," Tom said from my left. Damn, he moved fast.

"Let's go Max," Abby said. Tom held his hand out. I hesitantly took it, and he carefully helped me out of the car.

We all walked inside to the apartment complex. Todd and Abby ahead of Tom and myself. Tom was slowly drifting behind me. Just by an inch or so.

"This way," Tom said, "we'll take the stairs."

"The heck you will," Abby said, "elevator's much better for her."

Tom grumbled something that sounded like, "bossy much?"

We all piled into an elevator. We went up to the fifth floor and exited. We walked down the hallway and stopped in front of a room numbered 593. Todd got a set of keys out and opened the door. Tom shoved him out of the way, and stepped in.

"Lucy, we're ho-ome!" Tom said walking in. He walked about three steps before a grey and black striped cat walked over to greet him.

"Hey Lucy," Tom said kneeling down and petting the cat, "we won!"

The cat purred and mewed as Tom pet it. Once he stopped, Lucy walked away. Uninterested in the rest of us.

"Lucy?" I asked. Abby helped me walk in. My right side was really sore. She sat me at a stool near island that was located in the kitchen area of the apartment. Then she left to get her medical kit.

"Guard cat," Tom answered, "the only one of her kind."

"Huh?" I said. A can found itself flying at Tom's head. Tom caught it and tossed it back at the thrower.

"Stop spreading that bullshit, Tom," Todd said, catching his can. Tom narrowed his eyes at Todd.

"Piss off, Todd," Tom said crossing his arms, "When did your balls suddenly twist up?"

"Fuck you," Todd said and then walked away. He walked to a door in a hall located in the apartment. He entered it and slammed the door.

"Fuckin' jackass," Tom muttered. Whoa, what happened to the good spirit that I met like forty minutes ago?

"What's your problem?" I asked. Tom's attention came back over to me and he started to laugh.

"What?" I asked. Tom shook his head.

"Nothing," Tom said, "My problem is Todd. Todd's either pissed over the fact that the Indians won or the fact we brought you here."

"Why would either matter?" I asked again. Tom snorted.

"He and Abby are a couple," Tom said, "And Abby is a scheduler."

"For what?" I asked. Tom laughed.

"You're kidding right?" Tom asked. I shook my head slowly.

"Well, when a man and a woman love each other, or feel large amounts of lust for one another..." Tom trailed off. I caught on with what he was trying to say.

"Ohh," I said, "but how would the Indians winning have anything to do with it?"

"They made a bet," Tom said, falling backwards over an armrest of the couch, his legs dangling over the edge, "Tribe loses three times in a row, they ditch the schedule for a week. But if they win...Todd has to wait until the next few games."

"That's weird," I said. Tom nodded from his spot on the couch, and then spoke up again.

"It may be odd, but it's sure as hell funny to see Todd get so pissed," Tom snickered out. Then he sat up, looking at me.

"Who are you, really?" He asked. I gulped. I could make it to the door, but I wouldn't be able to fly because of the pain. I was stuck, Tom seemed to know that.

"Why do you ask?" I countered. Tom narrowed his eyes.

"Who gets a barcode tattooed on their foot?"

Fuck.

"I like produce?" I tried. Tom smirked but kept his glare on me. It felt weird. Tom seemed as though he were supposed to be a happy guy, I didn't like him when he wasn't smiling.

Whoa...where did that come from?

"Try again," Tom said standing up. He walked over so that he was in front of me.

I bit my lip. The look in Tom's eyes changed. His eyes widened and he looked away. He seemed to be gathering his thoughts, and then he made eye contact again.

"Well?"

I sighed. He was persistent, I'll give him that.

"My name is Max II," I said. He raised a eyebrow.

"You're shitting me," Tom said, "your parents actually named you Max II?"

"No," I said, a tear falling from my eye. I quickly wiped it away. _What the hell is wrong with me?_

"Then what?" Tom asked. He sounded more concerned.

"I don't have parents," I answered, "I'm a...a"

"An orphan? Aw man, I'm sorry," Tom said.

"No," I said, "I'm not an orphan, I'm...I'm a clone."

Tom stiffened. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

"No way," he said quietly. I nodded my head.

"That's.....So cool!" Tom said excitingly.

"What?" I asked looking at him like he was crazy.

"You're a clone?" I nodded, "That's too fucking cool."

"No it's not!" I snapped, "I have memories that don't even belong to me! How is that cool!?"

Tom's face fell, "I never thought about that. I'm sorry, Max...Was your...uh, donor named Max?"

I nodded again. Tom crossed a hand over his chest and rested the other under his chin.

"Can't keep calling you Max II then," Tom muttered, "It's not fair to you."

"Huh?" I asked. Tom nodded.

"I can tell you aren't like your donor," Tom said, "you two have similar traits and features...meaning two things."

"What?" I asked. Tom smirked.

"1. Your donor was very smart, and 2. Your donor was a looker."

I blushed and averted my eyes. Tom chuckled and sat in the stool next to me.

"Sorry," Tom said, "just telling it like it is."

"It's...okay I guess," I said. Tom chuckled.

"Wow. And I thought I was anti-social," he said.

"_Bull_ to the _shit_," Abby said from the hall.

"Hey Abby," Tom said, "Max needs to talk to all of us. So could you get Todd?"

"He pissed?" Abby asked. Tom smirked and nodded.

"Fine," Abby said. She walked over and set her medical kit on the island.

When she walked into the room, I turned my attention to Tom. I glared at him.

"What?" Tom said, "I don't keep shit like this from Abby. She's my roommate."

"You room with a girl?" I asked. Tom rolled his eyes.

"She's just a friend," Tom said, "no need to be jealous."

I blushed even more at that. Wait...why am I even blushing? It's not like I even like Tom that way.

...do I?

But how can I? We just met not forty minutes ago.

Tom's hand waving in my face snapped me from my thoughts.

"Hel-lo! Anyone home?" Tom said. When I moved his hand he smiled.

"Well, glad to see you're here with us," Tom said. He gestured to Abby and Todd.

"Time to sing, birdie," Tom said. Wow. He just made the funniest joke I ever heard, because of my situation. I burst out laughing.

"Huh," Tom said, his jaw locking to the left and leaving his mouth agape slightly ( I could see his tongue moving, tracing his teeth like a snake about to strike its prey), "I didn't think it would be that funny."

"You're never funny," Todd said. Tom's jaw shut and tightened.

"Fuck off," Tom muttered. Todd smirked. Abby spoke up.

"Want me to bandage you up?" She asked. I nodded. I stood wincing from the soreness.

"You're gonna have to lose the shirt," Abby said, holding gauze and other medical equipment.

"Uh, o-okay," I stuttered. I never stutter. What the hell is with me lately?

I turned around and started to lift my shirt, and then brought it back down. I turned back to face them. Do I tell them about my wings? Should I even let them look at my wings? Why am I still here? I looked at these three teens and wondered why I hadn't bolted yet. Tom's eyes locked with mine and all those questions flew out the window, and my nervousness with them.

"I just need to show you guys something," I said, surprising myself and them. Tom and Todd looked at each other. Then back at me and they nodded.

"Get on with it." "A'ight, shoot."

I took a deep breath and then said in one breath, "Ihavewings."

"What was that?" Abby said, her eyes wide. Tom and Todd's expressions matched hers.

"I have wings," I said slowly. Then I brought my wings out. Todd took a step back, Abby covered her heart and mouth with her hands, but it was Tom I was focused on. For some reason, his response was what I needed to see. He was shocked and then...a smile grew on his face.

"That is sooo fucking sweet," Tom said, "You have wings. Fucking WINGS!"

My jaw dropped. Does anything get to this guy? Anything at all?

"Y-yeah," I said quietly, then I swallowed and said louder, "is...is it okay?"

"Okay!?" Todd exclaimed, "You have FUCKING wings!"

"That is so choice," Tom said, ignoring Todd, "What do you think Abby?"

"Th-they're beautiful," Abby said in wonder, "Like a Bald Eagle's wings."

"You're right Abby," I said, "they are Eagle wings."

"Xam," Tom said, "this has to be the sweetest rescue I have ever been part of."

"Xam?" Abby, Todd, and I questioned. Tom nodded.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again. You are your own person, your personality is different and unique. As is your wings. So you need a unique name," Tom explained, running a hand over my right wing, making me shiver, "I like Xam."

"Are you nuts!?" Todd said, "She has fucking wings!"

"So?" Tom said, still brushing the wing, "your point?"

"It's not natural! She's a freak!" Todd shouted. That hurt more then made me angry. Abby stepped up.

"Todd, what the Fuck are you trying to say?" she asked him.

"She's a fucking freak, Abs," Todd exclaimed, "We need to get rid of her!"

"Todd," Abby said, "Grab your jacket and leave."

Tom turned to Abby, his jaw slack for a second, then his smile returned and he dropped to his knees.

"THERE IS A GOD!!!" he exclaimed raising his arms above his head. I snickered at him. Todd scowled.

"You're kicking me out!?" Todd exclaimed.

"You better get out now," Abby said, "before I throw you out."

"Fine!" Todd shouted, walking to the door, "I was sick of you being a tease anyway! You and you're new freak of a roommate have a nice life!"

He left slamming the door shut with a bang. Abby and Tom stared at the door for about five more seconds before Tom suddenly hugged me.

"Thank God we met you!" He said. My face was no doubt as red as a tomato. When Tom pulled back he crashed his lips to mine. My eyes widened before they started to droop shut. Before closing completely Tom broke the kiss.

"Damn," he breathed, "that was nice."

I nodded, still a little stunned at the show of affection. That was my first kiss. Ever. And it was amazing.

"Uhh, Tom?" Abby said, "I should probably bandage her up."

"Oh, uh, right," Tom smiled sheepishly, "I'm gonna go grab a shower then."

Tom started to back away, and then turned around disappearing down the hall. I followed his movements until he was out of sight. I don't know what was up with that...but I liked it.

"Hey, Juliet!" Abby shouted, "Wake up!"

"Huh, what?" I replied. Abby was smiling.

"You're head over heels," Abby said smiling, "Don't try to lie about it either."

"We just met each other!" I exclaimed, "How can we have feelings for each other already?"

"You are asking the wrong person there, Xam," Abby said, already using my new name, "I just have a question."

"Umm, okay?" I answered. Abby grabbed the Gauze and other medical stuff, I took my shirt off carefully for my wings and my sore spot. God how did that heal so fast?

"How do you feel about him now?" Abby asked. I almost choked. Abby was still wrapping the gauze around my waist. I was blushing madly now. Abby stood and waited for an answer.

"He's...um, well..." I said nervously. What do you want from me? I've never felt this before, let alone talked to another girl about this before.

"He's?" Abby prodded. I swallowed my nervousness in one gulp.

"He's...cute," I said in a whisper, "and funny."

"Yeah," Abby said, "I know that. He's one of my friends. Tell me something else."

"The fact nothing seems to get to him," I said, remembering how delicate he was with my wing, "Like with my wing. Even when he hugged me just the, he managed not to crush my wings."

"Tom's a sweetie that way," Abby said, "And he's not a perverted one track mind guy. He's a buddy. Stick around for thick and thin...but when zombies attack, you're on your own."

I laughed. Abby and I continued our chat, focusing on the topic of Tom. Who he was, what his likes were, his dislikes, etc. I faintly heard music coming from the hall.

"Is that music?" I asked. Abby paused and then nodded.

"He'll play it whenever he gets the chance," Abby explained.

"Oh, what's up with that?" I asked. Abby shrugged.

"Got me," she answered, "all I know is he likes Music. Metal mostly."

I yawned. Abby chuckled.

"Somebody's tired..." Abby joked. I smiled.

"Yeah," I said, "so where am I sleeping?"

Abby smiled wider, "Tom's room. Beware of Lester."

"Who?" I asked. Abby chuckled, "It's an imaginary snake he made up to mess with his little brother. His ideas followed him throughout his life. He falls back on them. Whenever life gets him down, he thinks back to the older days...before he met me."

"oookay?" I said, unsure of whether I wanted to continue this conversation or not.

"His room's the last one on the left," Abby told me. I nodded my thanks, and headed down the hall.

I stopped in front of Tom's room, and opened the door. Wow. His room was Tan and forest green, there were posters of all sorts of things, movies that came out a few years ago, band posters, a few motorcycle posters. He had some weights scattered around the room. There was a radio on the dresser, a pair of black briefs draped over it. Umm, okay... The cat, Lucy, was on his black pillow. A camouflaged large pillow was half on and off the bed. His dark, blue or purple, sheets were thrown off the bed. It was a mess in here, but not that messy.

I stepped into the room and sat on the bed. Just looking around...wow his bed is comfy.

I laid down on it and shut my eyes, just breathing in and out his scent. He smelled good. Like, like old spice. Then the door opened. I shot up. There he was, in just a towel.

Nothing more, nothing less. He obviously didn't expect me to be in here. I wasn't exactly expecting him either.

"Well," Tom said, "this is awkward."

* * *

**AN: I know there was no lemon in this chapter... Sorry Ador. I'll be sure to add it to the next one. I'm exhausted though, so you can't go being mad at me. I was up all night writing this fic. It might have to be a two shot...maybe more.**

**Let me know what you think.**

**Keep on Keepin on**

**Tsparks158**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: wow, I got more reviews then I thought I would...SWEET! To Rose and Gabby...You're in luck. The lemon starts here. I promise.**

**Just a quick question...should I make this an ongoing story, or should I just stop after the lemon?**

**It is your choice.**

**I don't own Max II.......Damn it. *WARNING* THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MAJOR LEMON *WARNING***

* * *

**Xam (Max II) POV**

My mouth was wide open. Tom was...wow.

Tom's abs weren't anything special, (he had a six pack, but it wasn't really defined), but his pecs were pretty defined. His stomach muscles were tight and well taken care of. There was water still clinging to his body, I followed a droplet roll down his chest and disappear at the towel's edge. I licked my dry lips.

"Uhh, Xam?" Tom spoke up, "Really, there's nothing to look at. I kinda need to get dressed now."

His statement made me look at his face. I glanced higher to see his wet hair. It was dark brown and very short. I looked back down into his eyes and then something came over me. I leapt up from the bed and shoved Tom against the wall.

"Hey, Xam!" Tom said, "What the He-!?"

I shut him up with a kiss. I used my tongue to brush lightly against his mouth. Tom shivered and his mouth opened. My tongue shot in. I absorbed everything, his taste, the way he felt against me, the way his tongue massaged my own. Tom's left hand grazed the door and started to push it. I used my right to shut it completely.

Tom and I broke apart, breathing heavily. I grabbed his arm and pulled him to the bed.

"Xam?" Tom asked, his voice cracking a little, "Wh-what are we doing?"

I didn't answer. I wasn't entirely sure, myself. I was just following my gut. I continued to pull Tom to the bed, and then I pulled him hard so he fell against it. He started to sit up, but I pushed him down and straddled him. I ran my hands over his chest, still a little wet, and leant down to kiss him again. Tom didn't object. Soon enough, our tongues were fighting for dominance.

I could feel my tongue winning, and then I felt something tug at my shirt. I broke the kiss to look down and see his hands tug at my shirt. I looked back at Tom in confusion. He returned the look, until a smile crossed his face. He stopped tugging at my shirt, and sat up on his elbows. His movement caused me to move back a little.

"Xam," Tom said softly, but smiling, "what are you doing?"

"I-I don't know," I answered, "I'm just following my gut."

"Riiight," Tom said chuckling, "Xam, we came pretty close to going to Second base. And from what I can tell, that would have been your first time."

"Oh," I said blushing wildly. I started to get off him, but Tom grabbed my arm. I looked at him and his eyebrows were scrunched together.

"What?" I asked.

"Do you want to?" Tom asked me. I thought it over for a second. Did I want to do what my instincts were telling me to do? Part of me said yes. It was practically screaming yes, actually. Another part of me said maybe. It was unsure. This conflict was causing me to pause. I looked back at Tom, he was waiting patiently.

_Now or never,_ I thought to myself. I sighed.

"Yes," I said quietly. Tom's smile grew.

"Well, if we are going to," he said, "we should at least warn Abby. We don't want to scar her fragile mind."

"Right," I said. Tom released my arm and I got off him. He looked at me.

"Well?" he said, "I still need to get dressed."

I blushed and started to the door, but stopped. A thought came to my mind and I turned around to face Tom.

"We were talking about sex right?" I asked. Tom's jaw dropped.

"Y-yeah," Tom said, "why?"

"Well," I said coyly, "if we are going to have sex, wouldn't we both need to be naked?"

"Yeah?" Tom said. Man, he was slow wasn't he?

"I'm just going to see you naked later," I said, "why not now?"

Tom blushed. I smiled; he was caught in a predicament set up by moi. Tom cleared his throat before he reached for his towel. He pulled his towel off...to show he was wearing blue briefs underneath it!

My look of confusion switched to one of slight anger.

"You tricked me," I said. Tom was smiling widely.

"When?" he asked, "I never said I was naked under here. You just assumed I was."

Tom chuckled a little as he went to his dresser and pulled out some jeans. He almost put them on but I snatched them from his hands.

"Hey!" Tom said, "Give 'em back, Xam."

"Nope," I said smugly, "You don't get to have them."

"Guess I'll just have to take them," Tom said. He made a grab for his pants (that sounded weird) but I moved out of the way. We continued this for two minutes before Tom actually leapt at me, causing us both to fall against the bed. We were both laughing. When our laughter died down we were looking into each other's eyes. And then our mouths met again. All after knowing the guy for about two or three hours. Who'd a thunk it?

"What...about...Abby?" I asked between kisses. Tom smiled as he kissed me again.

"She'll be fine," Tom said, "After all, she knows she owes me for keeping me up on her 'scheduled' nights."

I laughed again, while Tom trailed downwards to my neck. I started to moan softly. I could feel Tom smile as he continued to kiss me. He stopped at the spot where my neck and collarbone met. He moved slightly to the spot right between that and where my neck and shoulder met, and then he latched his mouth on my skin. He started to lightly suck on it. My moans grew in amount and volume.

Tom's left hand came up under my shirt. He latched his hand around my right breast. I gasped and then moaned as he started to trace circles around my nipple, causing it to harden. Tom broke away and he moved his hands to the hem of my shirt.

"You know after this, we'll have to get you more clothes," Tom said, before he started to take my shirt off. I arched my back to help him more and pain went through my side. I winced.

"Xam?" Tom asked, after throwing my shirt aside, "you okay?"

"Fine," I said, dismissing the pain, not wanting this to stop, "just don't stop."

"Are you sure?" Tom asked, "We can wa-."

"No!" I said fast and then calmed down, "No, I can do this. Just...Don't stop."

Tom nodded after a second and moved his hand back to cup my breast. I moaned in pleasure. Then his next action shocked me a little; he dipped his head and started to kiss my left breast. I gasped again at the surge of pleasure, followed it up with a longer moan. One of my hands went to clutch his hair.

"Oh my god," I moaned out. I could feel heat start to pool at my opening. I was becoming wetter the longer he kissed and groped my breast. To think, this is only second base. Tom bit down on my left nipple and started to suck. Holy shit he was good at that. Then Tom stopped. I groaned and looked at him. He had a half smile on his face.

"Why are you stopping?" I asked, out of breath. Tom shook his head.

"I still can't get over the fact I just met you not two hours ago and we're at second base," he said, "I feel like I'm taking advantage of you."

I understood how he felt, but I didn't want him to stop. Not yet, anyway. I grabbed his head and kissed him, long and hard. When we broke I looked back into his eyes.

"You're not using me, Tom," I said, "I can tell. I want this as much as you do."

I could feel his arousal poking at me through his briefs. I looked down to see a bulge in his underwear. When I looked back at Tom he was giving me an embarrassed smile. A thought suddenly ran through me and I smiled evilly at Tom. Using my strength I flipped us carefully so I was on top. Tom let out a gasp when he felt his back land on his bed.

"Holy shit," Tom whispered. I smiled before kissing him again. He returned my advancements and wrapped his arms around me. His hands touched where my wings and back met, and I gasped, breaking the kiss and arching my back.

"Hello sensitive spot," Tom murmured. He started to trace circles between my wings, applying slight pressure. It increased the amount of pleasure I was already feeling tenfold. Tom's own arousal seemed to increase a little too. It pressed into my lower abdomen harder.

"Getting impatient are we?" I slyly asked. Tom chuckled.

"A little," he admitted, "you?"

"Yes," I answered. Tom kissed at my jaw again. I pushed him back down back on the bed.

"Ah-ah," I chided, "good things come to those who wait."

After I finished my taunt, I leant down and started to kiss his own jaw. I followed it down to his neck, mimicking his actions on me. I continued until I made my way to the more sensitive part of his throat was. I latched on and started to suck, Tom groaned under me. He bucked a little underneath me. His hands add more pressure to where they were tracing circles. I moaned as I released his throat. I kissed the spot I was just on lightly before continuing my journey down his body.

I kissed over his chest, nipping here and there. I rolled my own tongue over his nipple, no idea why. It felt like the right thing to do. Tom didn't protest, but he urged me to go on with another groan of pleasure. I kept moving downward, kissing down his body. I started to run my hands over his chest, using the subtlest of touches with my fingers in certain patterns. Tom's hands started to leave my back, but at the moment I didn't care. It was his turn to feel some pleasure.

I made my way to the edge of the waistband of his briefs, and then I looked up at him. Tom was watching me with slightly widened eyes, like he was wondering if this was actually happening. I smirked again and tugged on his briefs, pulling them down. When I got them down, his length stood firm and erect. He was...big. Not porn star huge mind you, but he would certainly be able to get the job done.

I ran a finger over him, and Tom shivered a little. I decided to take it further and started to kiss him. Tom's groans of approval were quite the turn on. I then took his tip into my mouth. Tom gasped and looked down, his eyes wide with shock. I smiled and continued until my mouth covered him completely. Tom's head fell back onto the bed. A moan escaping his lips this time. I slid my mouth up and down his shaft, listening to the groans he made.

I started to apply more suction to my actions. Tom groaned louder, his hands went to the back of my head and ran through my hair. I giggled a little, causing Tom to moan again. We continued to do this until Tom froze, he gripped my hair harder.

"Xam..." Tom groaned, "I'm gonna..."

He never finished his sentence. He unloaded his salty and sweet cum into my mouth. It took me two gulps to clear my mouth of his taste. Some still lingered. I reveled in his taste, memorizing it. When I looked back at Tom he had an incredulous look on his face.

"What?" I asked. Tom shook his head.

"Did you really just swallow my...?" he asked, trailing off.

"Yes," I answered, "I did."

Tom smiled and I climbed back up to kiss him. He grabbed my upper arms lightly ad carefully rolled us over, so he was on top again. He pressed his forehead to mine before starting to trail kisses down my body. He got to my pants, which we never removed, and grabbed the waist of them, pulling them down slowly. He started to kiss my bare legs as he pulled my pants off. He moved back up my legs, kissing the inside of them as he moved, inch by inch.

He continued this, making me moan a little as he went up my thighs. He started to kiss the very middle of my thighs, closer to my opening. I moaned louder. I wasn't wearing any undergarments, thank you Laboratory, so my opening was there for his pleasure. He backed away and looked back at me. I nodded, answering his unasked question.

Tom placed his right hand over my opening. He started to massage my clit with his thumb and slid a finger inside me. I gasped at the sudden rush of pleasure. All I could think of now was _please god, don't let this stop_. Without warning, I felt my opening being stretched a little. I looked at Tom, who was smiling at me. I tried to offer a smile back, but all I could manage was a soft moan of pleasure. My hands moved to my breasts and they started to massage them.

Tom stuck a third finger inside me and I moaned again. How was he so good at this? Then again, this was my first time. I don't have much to compare him to. His left hand was massaging my right thigh. I felt a fire burning inside of me, threatening to take me. When Tom suddenly stopped using his hand and thumb, removing them from inside me, I looked up in worry. He was lowering his head to my opening and- _Oh My Fucking God_.

I moaned again while I felt his tongue stroke the inside of me. One of my hands moved from my breast to his head, trying to bring him closer to me. I bucked my hips, trying to get his tongue deeper. Tom's talented right hand re-entered the equation, he started to rub my clit again. I gasped and moaned for about five more minutes.

"Oh god," I groaned as the fire spread throughout my whole body. My hands gripped Tom's head and Tom brought me to my peak.

I called his name out as I came. My whole body was vibrating, still shaking from the pleasure Tom just gave me. Tom was lapping up my juices. When he finished he climbed back up and he laid down next to me on the right, being careful of my wing. I rolled onto my side to face him.

"That was amazing," I said quietly. Tom Smiled.

"Good to know," he said, huskily. He leant over and placed another kiss on my lips.

"Is there more?" I asked, feeling as though we didn't do all of it. Tom smiled.

"Yeah, but we don't have to do it if you don't want to," he said.

"Oh, I want to," I said. He rolled over to his side and grabbed something from his desk. When he rolled back over, I could see what it was. A condom.

"Safety first," Tom said. Once he put it on, which was a interesting show in itself, he rolled us again so once again, he was on top.

"Are you ready for this?" Tom asked. I nodded.

"Yeah," I said. Tom took a breath and then smiled again.

He slowly entered me and I gasped at the feeling of being filled. Then he started to feel some resistance.

"You're sure about this?" Tom asked. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"If you don't, I could always go find someone who will," I growled. Tom chuckled nervously.

"Guess you're sure," he mumbled. Then Tom plunged inside me and I felt a sudden amount of pain. I yelped, quietly but a yelp all the same. Tom stopped, allowing me to get used to the feeling of him inside me. Tom also kissed me softly on the cheek. The pain I was feeling started to drift away and I started to feel pleasure of him being inside of me.

"Is that it?" I asked. Tom openly chuckled.

"Hell no," he said softly.

Tom began to slide himself out of me. I moaned at the pleasure he sent through me. Then he thrusted himself back in at the same pace. Even more pleasure that time. He slid out again and started to thrust at the same pace, but my impatience made me buck up to him. Tom's eyes opened back up and he grinned at me.

"Now that we're on the same page," he said, before once again sliding out. We continued this pattern for a few minutes, and the heat I felt before started to come back. It kept growing and growing with each thrust Tom made. I moaned with each thrust, loving the feeling he was giving me. As we both moaned and groaned in pleasure, we started to increase the pace we were moving at, but it still felt as though Tom was holding back.

"Faster," I moaned. Tom complied and started to thrust faster. The slapping of his waist and my own the only sound aside from our moans.

"Harder," I ordered. I was so close. Tom started to openly grunt softly with each thrust now. We were still matching pace, but now it felt as though neither of us were holding back. The fire building in me spread throughout my body again as our thrusting came to abrupt stop. Tom's shaft pulsed inside of me and I clenched around him.

We both came, calling each other's name. Tom finished with a few residing thrusts. The he slowly sunk down so that he was lying on top of me. I wrapped my arms around him as we both fought catch our breath. We were both covered in sweat, head to toe. I'll bet my wings were even a little damp. Tom carefully slid himself out of me, and then he hugged me and carefully rolled us so that I was lying on top of him once again.

"That," Tom said, stroking the area between my wings, "was the best. Ever."

"Same for me," I said. I snuggled closer to Tom and let my wings rest, dangling over the edge of his bed. Tom started to laugh softly. I raised my head, using all the strength my body could muster up, and looked at him.

"What's so funny?" I asked. Tom looked at me and kissed my forehead.

"I just took the virginity of an Angel," Tom said pulling back, "I'm defiantly going to Hell now."

I laughed softly at him. We stayed in each other's embrace a while longer before the sandman's spell overtook us. I had one more thought before falling completely asleep.

_I know who the voice was talking about now..._

* * *

**AN: Sorry for the shorter chapter, but I'm sure if I stayed up any longer, I'd kill someone tomorrow.**

**So, I've decided to continue this fic...for how long, I don't know.**

**Oh and Rose...be sure to take Gabby back. Freaking psycho.**

**Keep on Keepin on**

**Tsparks158**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: So to those of you I scarred for life, I only have this to say....I warned you. To those of you I didn't...thank you for understanding.**

**I still don't own Max II.**

* * *

**Xam POV**

We were asleep for about two hours before Tom's door slammed open. I being me almost jumped up into a fighting position. Tom's hold on me tightened a little, thus keeping me from jumping up and out of his bed naked.

"TOM!" Abby shouted, "WHAT The hell...Ohh."

She quickly ducked out of the room and shut the door. Leaving both of us to wake up.

"Well that was an interesting wake up call," Tom chuckled. I smiled and leant up to give him another kiss. He returned it and I felt even more sure about my thoughts last night. I didn't want him to move, but he started to get up. I used what strength I had to keep him lying next to me. He was warm, nice and toasty. I stuck my toes out and instantly regretted it, bringing them. Tom tried to move again, but again I stopped him.

"Xam," Tom said, "I gotta get up."

"Nooo," I groaned, "you gotta stay in bed. It's cold."

Tom chuckled. He laid back down and put his arms back around me. I sighed in content. Until he rolled out from under me. What a cheap move! I glared at him and he just smiled back at me.

"Why so grumpy?" he asked smugly. He knew damn well why I was so grumpy.

"You know why," I said, "Now come back to bed. It's cold."

Tom shook his head and chuckled.

"I wish I could, but Abs is gonna kill me once she finds out what we did, not...two hours ago," Tom said. He went to his dresser and grabbed the underwear that was hanging off the radio. I looked at him incredulously. He raised an eyebrow in return.

"What?" he asked.

"Really? That underwear?" I questioned. Tom smiled again.

"It's clean...I think," Tom said. He took another look at it and then tossed it into his hamper of dirty clothes. He went back to the drawer and pulled out a different pair. He proceeded to get dressed while I watched him from the warmth and comfort of his sheets. After he pulled his jeans on he grabbed a small remote and turned the radio on.

"Cool," he said, "_**I Gotta Feeling**_"

"What?" I questioned. Tom turned to me and raised a finger to his mouth.

"Just listen," he said as his head started to slightly nod to the music. As soon as I heard the lyrics I started to giggle. They were so ironic. Tom started to laugh with me.

"Figured you'd like this song," Tom said. He went to his closet and opened the door. On the inside of it was yet another poster, except it had some weird W logo on it. Just a black background with two white Ws that looked like some hyper person drew it. Tom looked back to me and followed my gaze to his poster he smiled, yet again, and spoke up.

"The WWE logo," Tom said, "It's been my dream to get a job with them."

"Really?" I asked, "What do they do?"

Tom's smile vanished a little. He looked out the window. Then he looked back at me.

"Nothing, it's just some television show I liked growing up," Tom said. I was going to press further but Tom turned back to his closet and went digging for a shirt. I suddenly felt a thump on my stomach and looked down. Lucy was sitting on my stomach looking at Tom. Tom finally pulled a shirt out from his closet and turned around. His smile came back.

"Hey Lucy," Tom said, "sorry bout kicking you out. Lucy, this is Xam. Xam, meet Lucy."

The cat actually turned to face me and looked me in the eyes. Lucy had yellowish green eyes with the normal cat pupils. She then turned back to Tom and hopped off the bed. I looked back at Tom as well and his expression was one of surprise.

"Wow," Tom said, "usually she hisses at anyone I introduce to her. You're one of the few she noticed with indifference."

"O-Kay?" I said, unsure of how to take that statement. Tom started to nod hi head to the music again. I listened to it. Weird lyrics, but it had a nice steady beat.

"What song is this?" I asked.

"_**Move to the Music**_ by American Bang," Tom said. He lifted his shirt up and pulled it over his body. It was a dark red T-shirt that said, "Get Pumped" and the M was a heart monitor line. Tom had cut the sleeves off it, showing his arms. I noticed something I hadn't before on one of them. A tattoo. It had a Heart and some kind of banner over it, an Sun-like design beneath the heart.

"What's that?" I asked. Tom looked at me confused and followed my gaze to his left arm. His confused face dropped and he looked back at me.

"That?" he asked pointing at it. I nodded.

"Oh, that's my "Big Brother" tattoo," Tom said, "I play the protective part to some of the younger people I know. I'm the Big Brother to a lot of people."

"Like?" I asked. Tom smirked.

"As much as I'd love to play 20 questions with you," Tom said, "Abby will kill me if I don't go talk to her and explain what happened."

"I'll come too," I offered. Tom shook his head.

"You're naked," Tom pointed out, "That won't help me in any way. Sorry, Hun."

"Hun?" I questioned. Tom blushed and he walked out of the room. He came right back after a few seconds.

"Decide to answer me?" I asked smiling. Tom shook his head and walked to his desk and picked up a small object. A ring. My eyes widened and I guess he saw my face because he started to laugh. I looked at him, wondering why he was laughing, until he put the ring on his _right_ hand and on his_ middle _finger.

"You suck," I said punching him lightly. Tom smiled and then lent down to give me another kiss.

"Maybe," He said after pulling away, "but you swallow."

My jaw dropped and he walked away sending me one last smile before walking out of the room. I fell back onto his bed, looking at his ceiling. I realized Tom left the radio on. But at the moment I didn't care. I was just thinking about how deep I got myself in. Why did I feel this way towards Tom? I just wanted an answer to that.

_He'll help you..._ Great...the Voice was back.

_How?_ I asked, not really expecting a response. And shockingly, I didn't get one.

"YOU SLEPT WITH HER!?" I heard Abby yell. I also heard Tom's stammering explanation. I could tell he was doing worse then he thought he would alone. I stood up and went to his closet, looking for a shirt. I found a big T-shirt that was solid black and had a yellow motorcycle on it. I pulled that on over my wings and walked out of the room.

I walked to the living room to see Tom standing in front of an enraged Abby with his arms up in the surrendering position. I could see the fire of anger surrounding her. I walked up to them.

"Hi guys," I said. Both turned to me. Tom's jaw opened a little while Abby turned her glare back on Tom. She smacked him on the back of the head.

"OW!" Tom exclaimed raising his arms over his head, "Why'd you DiNozzo me?"

"Cause you deserved it," Abby answered. She walked over to me and spoke softly.

"Did he force you?" She asked and Tom's jaw dropped further. I was biting my lip to keep from laughing.

"Abby!" Tom exclaimed, "I would never do that!"

"Shut it, Tom," Abby told him and then she turned back to me, "It's okay to tell me if he did, Max."

My eyes narrowed and I brushed her hand off my shoulder.

"First off," I started, "My name isn't Max, it's Xam. Secondly, no. If anyone forced anybody, I forced him to. And thirdly, can I get some clothes?"

Abby's expression changed from sympathy to ridicule, she was at a loss at what I said apparently. Tom's expression matched hers a little, but then he bit his own lip trying to keep from laughing. Abby turned to him when a snicker escaped his lips.

"And what's so funny, Tom?" She asked him. Tom straightened up and tried hard to stifle his laughter.

"Nothing," he mumbled. Abby shot him another glare before she started to smile. She grabbed my wrist and dragged me to her room.

"Am I still in trouble?" Tom called after us. Abby shrugged.

"A little!" she called back. She stopped in front of what I guess was her door and pulled me inside. She released my wrist and turned around to shut the door. She turned back to face me. She pointed to her bed.

"Sit," she ordered. Not being one to get on her bad side, I sat.

"Now spill," Abby said, sitting next to me, "I want full details."

"What?" I asked. What did she really want to talk about what Tom and I did?

"Oh you know," Abby said, "What was it like? Was it good for you?"

I almost had a heart attack right then and there. She did want to talk about last night!! Who does that!?

"What!?" Was all I could get out. Abby scoffed.

"Oh, come ON!" Abby said, "You can't seriously act like you don't know what I'm talking about. And you aren't leaving this room until I get the full story. So spill."

I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was determined and wasn't going to drop this anytime soon. I sighed and readied myself to answer her.

"Okay," I said, "Itwasmyfirsttime."

"What was that?" Abby asked eyes wide. I took another deep breath.

"It was my first time," I said slower. Abby's jaw dropped.

"Shut. Up," Abby said, "Tom was your first?"

I blushed and nodded. Abby squealed. I covered my ears, I was unused to squealing.

"That's amazing!" Abby said, "Does Tom know?"

I nodded, "He figured it out from my hesitation."

"Well his ego has been boosted too much then," Abby said, "Was it any good?"

"Yes," I said a little embarrassed, "Tom said it was his best yet."

Abby looked shocked, "He said that?"

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"I've never known him to be one to talk about it," Abby said, "then again he has been single for about six months now."

My face fell a little and I felt hurt. I guess Abby saw that, because she spoke up again.

"But I think he wouldn't have said it if he didn't mean it," Abby said quickly, lifting my spirits, "Where do you plan on going after this?"

"With Tom?" I asked and Abby nodded. I looked away, thinking about our relationship.

"I want to go further," I said slowly, "But I'm not sure if he does."

"He'd better," Abby said raising her voice, "Or he's out on the curb!"

"All right already, I get the hint," Tom's voice said from behind the door. He pushed it open. He sent me a smile, and I nervously smiled back. I wondered in the back of my mind how long he had been listening.

"And how long were you there?" Abby asked him. Tom shrugged.

"Ever since I heard you squeal, my curiosity got the best of me," Tom said. He looked at me.

"Xam, can I talk to you?" Tom asked, and then looked at Abby, "Privately?"

"S-sure," I said. Tom held his hand out and I stood up and took it. He led me out of Abby's room and into his own. He shut the door behind me, and before I could speak, he raised a finger to his lips. Tom grabbed his Radio remote and turned it on, putting the volume to full blaring. I covered my ears. Tom grabbed my arms and led me to the window. He lifted it so it was open all the way and started to climb out.

I watched as he disappeared to the right of the window. I got worried until he poked his head back in the window.

"You coming?" he asked. I nodded and followed him out, before stopping and looking around for the pants that the Laboratory had issued me. When I found them I pulled them on so I wasn't naked while I climbed out the window. I resumed my climb out the window. Tom was waiting on the ledge to the right. He had a death grip on a rail that was randomly sticking out of the building's side.

"Welcome to my nightmare," He joked as he kept his eyes locked with mine. I raised an eyebrow and he nervously laughed.

"I'm afraid of heights," Tom admitted, "but I still do this for the rush of adrenaline."

"You're crazy," I stated trying, and failing, not to laugh as I said that. Tom shrugged.

"No one's been able to prove that yet," He said. Then he closed his eyes and started to walk backwards. I carefully followed him, staying a few feet away, incase I needed to catch him when he would fall. After about twenty steps, Tom opened his eyes and smiled at me again.

"What?" I asked. Tom shook his head.

"Give me three seconds," Tom said. Then he started to knock on the wall he knocked three times, paused, knocked five times, paused again, and then knocked twice. To my surprise, the wall gave way to another room.

"What are you a secret spy or something?" I asked. Tom laughed.

"No, just a guy with a really overactive imagination, and I know where to apply the pressure to knock away the nails holding the wall in," Tom said. He stepped in and held his hand out to me. I grabbed it and followed it in.

The room was a little dusty, and it was a lot like Tom's room. I looked around. There was a shelf full of DVDs and CDs. I walked over to look at them; some were fairly new, others pretty old. There was also another closet in here. It was open and had other shirts in it. I walked over to that, and pulled a shirt out. It was a dark grey and had two female silhouette's bending over a star that had a white R in the middle of it. On the back it said, "It's Easy, being Sleazy." I smirked and turned to Tom with the shirt in my hands. Tom chuckled and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"And what, pray tell, is this for?" I asked, still smiling. Tom walked over and grabbed the shirt.

"This is my Sleazy Edge shirt," he said, "Why?"

"Why isn't it in your closet?" I asked. Tom never once dropped his smile.

"Because I'm a little bit of a fan of the WWE still," Tom said, "and Abby doesn't approve of it."

"What is the WWE?" I asked. Tom beamed.

"Most likely the best form of entertainment ever," Tom said, "But I'm just gonna leave it at that."

"Aww, come on," I said walking closer to him, "please tell me more about it?"

"Maybe after you tell me more about yourself," Tom countered. I frowned, causing Tom's smile to vanish as well.

"What's wrong?" Tom asked. I shook my head a little.

"It's just..." I started, remembering what I was made to do, what I almost did. I was worried how Tom would react to it. He already knew I was a clone, and he already knew I had wings. Both of which he seemed to take in stride. But how would he handle the fact I was made to be a killer, just to destroy the one I was cloned from?

I hadn't realized I was crying until Tom hugged me.

"You don't have to tell me yet," Tom said, "not until you're ready, Xam. I can wait."

I cried even harder. He wasn't going to force the answer out, he would wait. I once again questioned why he was so kind. What made Tom such a happy person? He started to rub my wings through the shirt. Then Tom let go of me.

"Wait one sec," He whispered. He moved to a dresser that was in the left corner of the room. He started to dig through a drawer looking for something. He pulled out some scissors and walked back over to me.

"Seeing as you like that shirt," Tom said, "let me make it so you can get even more comfortable. Go ahead and take it off, I'll turn around."

Tom did just that, he turned around and waited. I pulled the shirt off, immediately crossing an arm over my bare chest. It was freezing in here! How was Tom so warm? I held the shirt over his shoulder and he took it. He was about to start cutting before he went back to his closet and pulled another shirt out, except this one was purple and said, "Unlock your Destiny". He cut into the back of that one first, and then he tossed it to me, without looking.

"Put it on, that way you can help me cut this one," Tom said. I slid the shirt on. It wasn't as big as the motorcycle shirt. In fact, it had to be at least two sizes smaller then the motorcycle one. It was more comfortable, aside from the tag that was itching my neck. I slid my wings through the slits and spread them slightly. That felt really comfortable. I walked over to Tom and tapped his shoulder.

He turned around to face me and he smirked, "Shirt looks better on you then it does on me."

"Yeah, whatever," I said, "so what'cha need help with?"

"I just guessed on where to cut on the shirt you're wearing now," Tom said, "But this one will be harder, considering the fact that it's a XL. The one you're wearing is a Medium."

"Where you a chunky kid?" I asked. Tom laughed.

"Yup," Tom said, "Thank god I decided to turn my life around. Two words: Exercise and Dieting."

"How long did that take you?" I asked, "oh, and cut here and...Here."

Tom followed my cutting instructions, and then he held the shirt up, "There we go."

He pulled the shirt on over my other one and I groaned. Tom smirked.

"Excuuuse me for wanting to stay in my apartment," Tom said, "If Abby sees that shirt she'll kill me. She wants nothing to do with the WWE. That's got to be the only thing I don't like about her, as a friend."

"Why doesn't she like it?" I asked. Tom shrugged.

"Something about her brothers fighting over it all the time when they were kids," Tom said, "My brother and I were like that too, but I guess it's different from her point of view. She's a pacifist. I'm not. Simple as that."

"She doesn't seem like a pacifist," I commented. Tom rolled his eyes and went over to the couch, he patted the seat next to him and I went to join him. When I sat down, Tom wrapped his arms around me and laid back. I relaxed and sighed softly.

"She's a pacifist...her brothers both died in Iraq," Tom said, "they thought that they could use the military as a way to get stronger, they're dreams were a lot like mine. Abby blames the WWE, thinking it was their fault. She's all for the war, but she can't understand why her brothers would have died for something so ridiculous."

"They were just trying to achieve their dreams weren't they?" I asked, "Why was that so stupid?"

Tom shrugged again, "You'd have to ask Abby more about it. She knows I'm a fan, but won't let anything even the slightest related to it come in our apartment. So that's why my stuff is in here. I come here every Monday, Tuesday, and sometimes Friday, to just relax and watch my shows. The Building's manager let's me keep this room, that was boarded off, so long as I pay him an extra grand every month. He also takes care of my Satellite connections in here."

"Sounds like Abby doesn't know about this room," I said. Tom shook his head.

"Nope," he said. "You are now one of uh...three people that even know about this room."

"I feel so honored," I said. Tom smiled again.

"You should," He said, "now maybe we should get back to the reason I snuck us out of there: Our relationship."

"Okay," I said, "do you want one?"

"Only if you do, Xam," Tom answered. I smiled and leant down to kiss him. Our lips met again and we kept it short and sweet. When the kiss broke I laid my head against his chest and Tom moved a hand to the floor, he grabbed a remote from under the couch and turned the TV on. Some ad came up and music played as some old guy held a microphone to his mouth.

"Boo," Tom uttered, "Hiss."

"What?" I asked. Tom chuckled.

"Nothing, that's Vince McMahon," he said pointing with the remote, "He owns the WWE and this commercial is for some new reality TV crossover they're starting in a few weeks. They're cutting one of my favorite shows just for some BS reality TV."

"What show?" I asked, starting to like the bonding we were doing.

"ECW," Tom said. Then he yawned, "Man, how am I so tired?"

"The whole climbing outside the window over here maybe?" I suggested. Tom's eyes shot open.

"Shit, Abby," he said, "we gotta get up, Xam."

"But I don't wanna," I whined, "can't we stay here?"

"No," Tom said, "I wish we could, but Abby will start to suspect something if we don't get back over there. You gotta leave that Hardy shirt here, Hun."

"The what?" I asked sleepily. I really didn't want to move just yet.

"The purple shirt," Tom said, "It's gotta stay here."

"Fine," I grumbled. I stood up and removed both shirts. I immediately put the huge motorcycle one back on and tossed him the purple one. I gotta talk to Abby about this little anti-WWE thing she has going on. I can tell it bugs Tom that he has to ditch his own apartment when he wants to watch it. Plus, that shirt is really comfy.

"Come on sleepyhead," Tom said, "We'll sneak back in. I put my false wall back up, so we have to go through the apartment."

"Won't Abby notice that both of us aren't coming from your room?" I asked. Tom shrugged.

"Hopefully she went out to grab some cat food," Tom said, "It was her turn to go out and grab some, she probably walked. Which will give us just the amount of time we need."

Tom and I left his "other" room and went to his apartment. He pulled out his own set of keys and unlocked the door, adding his own left-handed fist pump in the process. He walked in without a care in the world, ran to his room to turn the music off, and then came back and collapsed on his back on the couch. I followed and went over to the couch, I looked at Tom. He leaned up and grabbed my arms, pulling me down onto him. I got settled in my spot like I was a few minutes ago and Tom turned the TV to the TNT channel. Some War movie was on.

"What's this?" I asked. Tom's hand went back to caressing my "sensitive spot", as he called it, and he kissed my head.

"Just something we can fall asleep to," Tom said. I nodded and then yawned. I brought my wings out a little and rested them over us. Tom started to chuckle again.

"What now?" I asked. Tom just shook his head.

"You have your own built in blanket," Tom said, "that's cool."

"Yeah, it's pretty aweso-" I was cut off by Tom's hand.

"I try not to use the A-word," Tom said. He released my mouth and I gave him a ridiculous look.

"You don't use the word awes-" Tom once again cut me off.

"I find it a disgrace to Clevelanders," Tom said, "It's a WWE thing, Hun."

"Now I really want to know what made you so weird," I mumbled. Tom laughed softly and soon we fell asleep. Again in each other's arms.

* * *

_There's a hate inside of me, like some kind of master  
__I try to save you, but I can't find the answer  
__I'm holding onto you, __I'll never let go  
__I need you with me as I enter the shadows_

I was rudely awoken by Tom's cell phone. Tom grunted and sat up, almost making me fall off him. He held onto me with one arm and grabbed his phone with another.

"Hello?" He asked annoyed. I was too. Who calls at 2 in the morning!?

"I don't care," Tom mumbled, "No, I'm serious. Wait...what did you say? Dude, are you kidding me? You're really trying to pull that shit on me? Fuck you man! No, I'm not coming in on my week off! Yeah, well you go ahead and take it up to Donavan. He's just gonna back me up anyway. The fuck you will. Does it sound like you woke me up? Then call, Chuck for god's sakes. No it's only 2 AM, I highly doubt he'll be asleep. You can take your sick aunt excuse and shove it up your ass. See you next week, Jack-off."

Tom hung up and dropped the phone to the floor. He was mad at being woken up, I can tell. I was a little peeved at being woken up too. I moved so the both of us could sit up.

"Who was that?" I asked. Tom shook his head.

"Some idiot I work with. I'm sorry you heard all that, I don't usually blow up like that," Tom said.

"Who calls at 2 in the morning anyway?" I asked. Tom snorted.

"Mike," Tom said, "Guy needs to get his life in shape."

"What do you do for a living?" I asked Tom. Tom looked at me.

"Currently? I work for a paper. I write stories and send them in every week. I help out in other areas of the building as well. Mike always asks me to help him out, but I don't help douche bags...pardon my French," Tom said. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and then shook his head once, "As you can see, I'm not the nicest guy in the world right after I wake up. Especially if I'm woken up from having a good dream about my girlfriend."

I blushed and Tom laughed. He started to stand up, causing me to move off him. Tom stretched and picked his cell phone up. While he was doing this, I laid back down. I really just wanted to go back to sleep. I was interrupted at least twice in the same night. Not healthy for a Avian-Human Hybrid. I was shocked when I felt two arms scoop me up bridal-style.

"You're really light," Tom said raising an eyebrow, "what's up with that?"

"Well," I said, "It's because I'm 2% bird. That's why I have wings, I have other bird-like traits as well."

"Cool," Tom said, then he yawned again. He started to walk towards his room. Lucy walked by us, she sat in front of the door, waiting patiently.

"Lucy sleeps with you?" I asked. Tom yawned, but nodded again.

"Correction," Tom said, "she's sleeping with us."

I smiled again as Tom opened and closed his door with one hand as we walked in the room. Lucy had jumped onto the bed, making herself comfortable at the end of it. Tom walked to the right side of the bed and set me on it, I moved the covers down so that I could slip under them. Tom walked around to get in on the left. He climbed in and laid down next to me. I laid down on my side, Tom moved so he was laying behind me.

Then Tom sat up again. I turned to see he was taking his shirt off, he tossed it into his hamper and laid back down next to me. Tom wrapped a arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.

"I love you," he whispered. My breath caught in my throat. No one has ever said that to me. No one. It took me a few seconds but I eventually said something back.

"I love you, too," I whispered back. I felt the arm around me hug me a little tighter and Tom kissed my cheek again.

"Night," He said. Not fifteen seconds later he was asleep.

"Goodnight, Tom," I said, "I love you."

* * *

**AN: Annnnnd that's a scene! Great people! Loved it! We'll see you tomorrow.**

**Keep on Keepin on**

**Tsparks158**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: So those of you who are also followers of Archangel in Disguise... I'm sorry that I haven't updated that in a while. Life does that to me. I promise to try and finish it up within the next two weeks. That's right...I'm going to finish it up. End it.**

**But then...I will write a sequel in the summer. Squeal and happy dance...you know you want to.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Max II...**

* * *

**Xam POV**

_There's a hate inside of me, like some kind of master  
I try to save you, but I can't find the answer  
I'm holding onto you, I'll never let go  
I need you with me as I enter the shadows_

I groaned as Tom's cell phone woke me up again. I didn't want to open my eyes. I really didn't but I also wanted to know what time it was. I (regretfully) opened my eyes to look at the clock that was on Tom's wall.

_11:23...that's more like it,_ I thought as I stretched a little, staying in Tom's hold. Tom woke around the third time the ringtone played. He stretched, released the hold on my waist and blindly grabbed around for the phone. When he did pick it up, he answered with a really groggy, "Hello?"

I heard a muffled hello back and Tom sat up straight. I thought he was worried, until I saw the smile on his face. He was beaming.

"Yeah? All right," Tom said, "Yeah, I'll be right down. I'll probably bring Abby around, sure... Who? ...No, she dumped his ass...I get that, God he was such a D-bag...All right seen ya then...Oh, and Jake? Thanks, dude... You know you're the only one I trust with her. I'll be there around three then... Okay, good-bye Jake."

After Tom hung up, he laid back down next to me. He started to kiss up my shoulder, neck, and cheek, until he reached my lips. I kissed him back, showing my love for him hasn't changed, just as he showed me the same.

"Hey beautiful," he whispered, "We gotta get up so we can get you some clothes."

"There's more to it then that, right?" I asked. Tom laughed softly.

"You can read me like a book," Tom said, "but I'm saving the rest of my plans as a surprise. You might want to shower before we go out."

"Are you saying I stink?" I asked. Tom shrugged.

"Does a bear shit in the woods?" I smacked him playfully as he left the bed. He went to his drawer and grabbed a new pair of jeans and underwear, sent a smile my way, and left the room. I laid back and stretched before standing up and seeing if Abby had anything I could borrow to wear.

"Hey Abby?" I called as I entered the living room. I found her sitting with Lucy on the couch, channel surfing. Abby turned her head and smiled evilly.

"So, how was the second time around? Just as good? Worse? Better?" She asked. I blushed and sent a glare her way.

"We just talked," I said walking around the couch and sitting next to her. Lucy moved from her lap to mine. I started to absently stroke her back as Abby turned her direction from the TV to me. I faintly heard music begin to play from the hall.

Abby rolled her eyes, "TOM! TURN THE MUSIC DOWN!!"

"It doesn't seem that loud," I said. Abby shrugged.

"I know, but we have neighbors that complain...not as much about Tom, but me," she said, "I think it's because he's such a nice guy. Lucky bastard."

I laughed her 'Lucky Bastard' comment off.

"So, what did you want?" Abby asked.

"Well, I need some clothes," I said, "Tom wants us to go out so I have to change and shower. Got any I can use?"

"Hmm," Abby said, "I might have a few things that I don't wear as much. Come with me."

Abby grabbed my wrist and pulled me to her room once again. I heard music blaring muffled through the bathroom, along with what sounded like Tom singing to it. I laughed as we passed the bathroom.

"He does that often?" I asked Abby. Abby shook her head.

"Not unless he's really excited over something," Abby said opening her door, "I thought I heard his phone ring."

"You did," I said entering her room, "He seemed really excited and awake after he got off the phone."

"Are you sure you didn't do a quickie?" Abby asked smiling. I crossed my arms and put an, 'Are you serious?' look on my face.

"I was kidding!" Abby said raising her hands in surrender, "Who was the person he was talking to?"

"Some guy named Jake I think," I said. Abby smiled and walked past me to her closet.

"Why?" I asked. Abby shook her head, turned around, and made the zipper motion across her lips.

"Nope," she said, "You're getting nothing from me. I think you'll like the surprise."

I huffed and sat on her bed. Abby went closet diving, I sat and watched. Until the bathroom door opened. The music had stopped and some steam was lofting out into the hallway and Abby's room. My heart started beating faster as I realized Tom would walk out again in just a towel. But to my dismay, he walked past with his new jeans on. His hair was still wet and there were droplets of water still fresh on his body.

"XAM!" Abby said, getting my attention, "Get off cloud nine for like three seconds."

"Sorry," I said blushing. Tom, luckily, hadn't noticed. He shut the door to his room, most likely to put a shirt on.

"So what do you think?" Abby asked holding up two different shirts, "Which one?"

There were two possibilities. One was a blue blouse...no. Another was a train wreck...And they call that fashion?

"I've got a shirt for her," Tom said from the doorway, "I got it for Sue, but it was too big on her. Remember Abby?"

Abby snapped her fingers, "That's perfect! So much as Xam doesn't mind wearing a shirt that was supposed to be for your sister. Do you?"

I shook my head, anything to not wear Abby's choices. Her clothes now were more her style, not for me. Tom wore clothes more to my taste, and he's a guy. Before leaving Abby, so she could get dressed, Abby tossed me some pants and um, various other garments.

"Those are hot," Tom said pointing at the underwear Abby gave me, "when did you get those, Abs?"

"Awhile ago," Abby said, pushing us out of the room, "Now get. I have to change."

"All right, all right quit shoving!" Tom said smiling. I laughed quietly at him. He started to wrap an arm around me, but recoiled.

"What?" I asked. Tom pinched his nose.

"You need a shower, Xam," Tom said, "bad."

"Whatever," I said annoyed, turning around to the bathroom. Tom grabbed my arm and pulled me back to face him. He pulled me a little closer so our bodies touched.

"What now?" I asked. Tom looked me in the eyes.

"You know I'm just messing with you, right?" Tom asked worried. I smiled and gave him a kiss.

"Yeah," I said once the kiss broke, "like you know I can kick your ass from here to New York."

"Always wanted to see the Big Apple," Tom jokingly mused. I shoved him away laughing and turned around to use the shower.

"Xam," Tom said getting my attention again. I walked back to him.

"What?" I asked leaning pretty close into his space. Tom chuckled and shoved a shirt into my arms lightly.

"Thought you might want that," He said huskily. Then he gave me another kiss before he turned around. I watched him walk into the living room before shaking my head to clear my thoughts and going back to the bathroom.

After a nice long warm shower, which felt amazing, I dressed into the clothes that Tom and Abby picked out. Abby handed me simple dark blue jeans. I had put the underwear, except the bra (that's pretty hard what with the wings and all), on beforehand.

The shirt Tom handed me was a light brown T-shirt with a band logo on it. Reading it, it said "Rascal Flatts Tour" on the front and on the back was a comically drawn flat rat. It was a cartoon road kill. I thought it was rather cute. Tom had though ahead and cut two slits in the back for my wings. I slipped the shirt on and let my wings through the slits.

I walked back out into the living room, letting my hair and wings dry naturally. I occasionally flapped my wings a little so they would dry. I felt arms start to encircle me from behind and I almost struck the owner, but his voice snapped me out of it.

"You know," Tom said, kissing up my neck, "you could just ask me to help you dry your wings."

"Maybe next time," I said leaning into him a little, "you know how close you came to getting kicked in the balls?"

"Yeah, mental note; take precaution before kissing girlfriend," Tom said. I giggled and turned around in his arms. Tom was now wearing a dark grey AC/DC shirt. It clung a little close to his body, showing his arms off a little. I saw a silver chain around his neck, so I reached up and grabbed it. I pulled it out from where it was tucked into his shirt and looked at the dog tags that were attached.

"Dog tags?" I asked. Tom nodded.

"Another thing about me you have to wait to learn about," Tom said, "The more I find out about my Mystery Girl Friend, the more she finds out about me."

"Aww, but the mystery girl friend doesn't dig that deal," I play whined. Tom snickered a little and gave me a kiss.

"Oh well. She'll...just...have to...Deal," He said between kisses, I wrapped my arms around his neck as we kissed. Someone cleared her throat and it caused us to jump apart.

"Are we ready to go yet?" Abby asked. Tom and I blushed but nodded.

"Good, then lets go" Abby said leading us outside.

* * *

**AN: This is part one. Part two won't be up until later sorry.**

**Keep on Keepin on**

**Tsparks158**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Yeah, I know the last chapter was so short, and I'm sorry. But this one will be (hopefully) much longer.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Xam, formally known as Max II.**

* * *

**Xam POV**

Abby led us down to her car in the garage. Tom went to the passenger side and opened the door for me.

"Playing the gentleman?" I asked. Tom smiled.

"I'm nothing but a gentleman," Tom said, "You of all people should know that, Xammy."

I raised an eyebrow at the nickname and got in the seat. Tom entered behind Abby and I and sat in the middle, after buckling himself in he leaned forward and rested his arms on the back of our seats. He reached forward and grabbed a weird tape with a cord running through it.

"What is that?" I asked. Abby rolled her eyes as she pulled out, Tom ducking a little so she could see.

"His adapter," Abby said, "so he can play his Zune music."

"Zune?" I asked. Abby put the car into gear and left the garage. Tom pushed his adapter into the tape player and then plugged the cord into a small device. I almost grew worried, until some music started to play.

"A Zune," Abby said, starting to nod her head to the music, "Is Microsoft's answer to the iPod. What playlist is this Tom?"

"Out N' Rollin'" Tom answered as he also started to nod his head in time with the drums.

"**Bawitdaba**?" Abby asked, "Ooo, the Woodstock '99 version!"

Tom sat back as he started to nod his head some more. Abby turned the music up louder. Tom and Abby both sang along with the music, Tom singing the lead's lyrics and Abby doing backup. I laughed as they both acted like goofballs. I looked down at Tom's Zune. It was a light rose pink.

"Pink Tom? Really?" I asked. Tom's smile faded and he leaned forward to turn the music down. Abby's smile vanished as well, and she went back to focusing on driving.

"Did I say something wrong?" I asked Tom, worried I said the wrong thing. Tom sent me a half hearted smile and shook his head.

"No Xam," he said, "You just asked a sensitive question. My Zune is pink because I support the fight against breast cancer. My aunt died from it around the time I first got my Zune. We weren't that close, but she and my dad were. I've had this Zune since then. At first I was really embarrassed, but it grew onto me. And that's all she wrote."

"I'm sorry, Tom," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Tom smirked and blared the music loudly. My hand left his shoulder and went to my ear, before Tom turned the music down to a docile volume.

"Thanks Xam," Tom said, "But I needed to kill the tension somehow. I'm sorry, Hun."

He leant a little forward and kissed me. I smiled and kissed back, until the music suddenly blared again. We broke apart and covered our ears. We both turned to glare at Abby when the music turned down again.

"Oops," Abby said, "does that turn the music up? My bad."

"Ha ha," Tom said dryly, "you're a comedian. I'm sorry you just broke up with the douchiest of guys, but you don't have to wreck my happiness over it."

"Oh I'm actually not that broken up," Abby said, while Tom fixed the music back to normal, "I was gonna dump him later anyway. I just like torturing you."

"Riiiight," Tom said sarcastically and leaning back, "And I'm the queen of France."

"Pleasure to meet you, your Majesty," Abby countered. She and I broke out into laughter as Tom smiled. After another various song ended, Abby's laughing stopped as she stopped at a red light and listened to the music. She released another squeal, which I didn't have to cover my ears for (Yay me).

"You rock Tom!" she said before she started to sing along to the music.

"What song is this?" I asked Tom who was moving to the guitar. I absently mimicked him a little.

"**Hell Yeah** by Rev Theory," Tom answered. The three of us, yeah three, sang along to the words. I had just stumbled a little over some words. The chorus was easy to learn. Abby was pounding the beat lightly on her steering wheel. Tom just banged his head.

"Abs," Tom said, "Here's our turn."

"I know that," Abby said, "I just hope I find a spot after this song ends."

And sure enough, Abby pulled into a parking spot close to a huge building. I hesitated in getting out, until I remembered Tom and Abby were going in with me. Tom grabbed his Zune before getting out and shoved it into his front pocket. Tom walked up next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders while we walked in. Abby led us to various shops, stopping at a shoe store first.

"You're shitting me," Tom said releasing my shoulders and crossing his arms, "You want to start here?"

"Here now or later, Tom," Abby said, "Your choice."

Tom grumbled something but then he spoke louder, "remember we're on a schedule, Abs. Not too long."

"You know me, Tom," Abby said, grabbing our wrists and pulling us in, "I'm never late on a schedule."

"Oh, yeah..." Tom said sarcastically, "Unless you're shopping. Then you just say 'Screw the schedule'."

"Better watch your mouth, wise ass," Abby said, releasing our wrists, "Now be a good boy and just walk around until I call you."

Abby started to walk away and I glanced at Tom, who was mocking her silently. He rolled his eyes and turned back to me.

"I'm just glad she didn't take you with her...yet," Tom said. He came closer to me and put his arm back around my shoulders. I put an arm around his waist. Tom started to lead me down the Men's aisle.

"I thought we were shopping for me?" I said. Tom sighed.

"Yeah, but I gotta entertain myself somehow," Tom said, releasing my shoulders and grabbing a fairly sized boot. He looked it over in his hand, before shaking his head and putting it back.

"As much as I hate to admit it," Tom said, "I like clothes shopping better then shoe shopping. Guys just need two pairs: Boots and shoes. Girls, no offence, need seventeen. I'm warning you now, if you even think of trying to get me to have more then two pairs...we're through."

I could tell he was joking by his smile. I giggled and followed him down the isle. I occasionally looked at various men's sneakers and looked back at Tom's feet. He was wearing black boots tucked under his jeans; they looked a little like leather. We continued this until Abby summoned us. Tom rolled his eyes before raising his right shoulder slightly and lowering his left, he walked towards Abby's voice with a slight limp.

"Yes Master?" Tom said, making me laugh, "You called, Master?"

"Yes I did, Tom," Abby said smiling, "You can knock it off. Xam, sit there."

Abby pointed at a weird stool, which was shaped like a trapezoid and had a mirror at the angled side. I sat on it and Abby took my really shredded sneaker (again, thank you Laboratory) and removed it, freeing my foot. I stretched it and flexed it so it wasn't so loose.

"Wow, how'd you fit your foot in here?" Abby asked. I shrugged. Abby shook her head and set some measuring thing at my foot. When she finished she stood up and looked at me.

"Sneakers or heels?" she asked. I gave her a 'Really?' look. Like she had to ask.

"Sneakers it is then," Abby grumbled and walked away. Tom chuckled and I removed my other shoe, or at least tried to. The freaking thing wouldn't let go of my foot! I tried for ten minutes before looking at Tom and silently asking for his help. Tom bent over and helped my get the evil shoe off my foot.

"Shoe problems?" Tom asked, holding the evil shoe up in his hand. I sent him a dark look and he just laughed a little until some music started to play.

_It's so hard to let go of the past,  
Forever on my mind.  
I never dreamed thing s could change so fast,  
What did I have left?_

_I won't be your Martyr anymore-_

"Hel-lo," Tom said after he flipped his phone open. I expected a voice to reply, but instead Tom's eyes just scanned the phone. Then his smile grew a little, and my heart rate spiked. Tom was purely happy about something, I could tell.

"Sweet," Tom said before pressing some keys and then closing his phone. He looked back at me and smiled. I smiled back, and an object moving caught my eye. It flew past Tom and at me. I caught the object that was flying at me, to see it was a shoebox. I looked up to see Abby disappearing back around the corner of the aisle. I looked down at the shoebox and then looked at Tom.

"What does she want me to do?" I asked. Tom gave me a 'Are you seriously asking that?' look. Before he could give me what was most likely going to be a smart-ass reply, I sent him a warning look.

"I was going to say she wants you to try it on," he said, his hands up in surrender. I sat back down and opened the box. They were just plain white Nike's with a blue and grey secondary color scheme. I got all the stuff out of the right shoe and pulled it on. I could die happy now! The shoe was so comfortable. I undid the left one and put it on as well. After tying it, I stood and walked around, my shoes felt so comfortable. _This is what makes a Hybrid Girl happy,_ I thought.

"I should guess so," Tom said smiling and watching me. I blushed as I realized I said that last thought out loud. Tom continued to smile as he picked the box and my old shoes up.

"That it then?" I asked. Tom sighed.

"I highly doubt it," he said remorsefully, "Abs will probably want you to try ten other pairs before she even lets you consider buying that pair."

I frowned, it took long enough as it was getting this pair. I grabbed Tom's left arm and pulled him in the direction Abby was. We found her looking at shoes, shocker! I cleared my throat to announce our presence. Abby's head shot up and she looked at me.

"Oh, they fit?" She asked and I nodded. Before Abby could even ask anymore questions, she looked behind me at Tom, and her questioning face turned to one of sudden understanding.

"Then let's go," She said. I looked back at Tom and he gave me a smile and shrug. I slugged him in the right arm, lightly.

"Ow," He playfully whined. I smirked and we followed Abby to the counter. Tom handed Abby the box, and she paid the girl that was working behind it. Tom's cell rang again and he pulled it out and flipped it open.

"Uh-oh," Tom mumbled as he looked his phone over again.

"What?" Abby and I asked. Tom handed Abby the cell and took the bag from the girl. Before I could look over Abby's shoulder to look at whatever Tom showed her, she snapped it shut and handed it back to Tom.

"I can't believe that would happen!" Abby exclaimed, "Sorry Xam, but we're cutting shopping short today. Tom's surprise is a little in trouble. At least you got some shoes."

We walked out of the shoe store before my stomach rumbled. I needed to eat, now. I grabbed Tom's hand and intertwined our fingers before tugging on it a little. Tom turned his attention to me.

"What's up, Xam?" he asked as we walked past the food court. I inhaled the smell of all the fast food shops and sighed. Tom seemed to get the message.

"What do you want?" Tom asked stopping and looking around, "I'm sure we have enough time to stop for a break to eat."

"Mickey D's?" Abby suggested. Tom nodded and led us over to a food line. I looked up at the sign behind the counter and looked over the food, wondering which would fill me the most. I noticed the number three has a double quarter pounder with cheese. About four of those I guess...and maybe two orders of number ones...and large fries. Three cokes ought to finish it off.

"What'cha want Xam?" Abby asked, "I'll buy."

I realized it doesn't sound as normal as it seems to get a lot of food. I haven't eaten in at least a day...and I was starving. I had to order all of that. Otherwise I'd just be even hungrier later.

"I'm gonna have to order a lot, guys," I whispered, and when they shot me confused glances I explained, "My bird DNA makes my metabolism very fast. I have to eat at least three times as much as you guys, just to have a normal meal."

Tom nodded his understanding and reached into his back pocket, pulling his wallet out. Abby gave me a mouthed, "really?" and when I nodded, she seemed to accept that.

"I'm buying," Tom said, "Get what ever you want, babe."

Tom led the way up to the counter and let Abby order first. Abby got herself a snack-wrap combo meal and a medium Coke. Tom nudged me to go next. I stepped up and looked the counter guy in the face then started to order.

"I'll take four number threes, extra value meals on all of them, two number ones, also extra value meals, and three medium cokes," I said. The guy gave me a blank stare. It was making me a little uncomfortable. Tom snapped his fingers in the guy's face.

" Hey! If you want to keep your balls, you'll stop ogling my girlfriend," Tom said threateningly. The guy shook his head and placed my order. Tom ordered next, all throughout which he kept giving the guy death glares. He ordered a Big Mac extra value meal, Southern Style Chicken sandwich, and a Ten-piece nugget meal. Along with a large chocolate shake. After paying for our order and getting our food, Abby led us to a table.

"Geez, Tom," Abby said, "I know Xam has a good excuse, what's yours?"

"You can bite me," Tom said, eating a nugget, "I haven't had a decent McDonalds' lunch in four months. Considering Todd was a fucking health nut. Can you believe he expected us to just stay away from Wendy's on Fast Food Friday?"

"And that's because I won the coin toss," Abby said smiling and eating a fry. Tom scowled mid bite and then continued to eat. I dug in as soon as we sat down, already one of my burgers were gone and I was now working on my first Big Mac. After the first bite I decided to switch my order around for the next time, four Big Macs and two Double Quarter Pounders. After I finished that, Tom held three nuggets out to me.

"Three nuggets for half one of your fries?" Tom asked. I nodded, I was sure half a fry order wouldn't make a difference seeing as I wasn't flying anywhere anytime soon. Tom made the switch carefully and opened his Southern style sandwich. He ripped it in half, setting a half down. Eventually, my curiosity got the best of me as I watched Tom eat half of the sandwich with a smile tugging at his lips.

"Half your burger for half of mine?" I asked. Tom thought about it, and nodded. I took one of my quarter pounders and ripped it in half. I made the switch and took a bite. Oh my god... It tasted soooo fucking good!

"Good isn't it?" Tom asked with a smile. I nodded as I took another bite. I looked across from me to see Abby smiling at us and eating a fry.

"What?" I asked with my mouth half full. Abby shook her head.

"You guys met yesterday and you act like you've been together for your whole lives," She said. Tom choked for a second before taking a sip of one of my cokes. I sent him a glare.

"Would you rather I died?" Tom asked. My glare stopped and Tom smiled.

"Didn't think so," he said, "But next time I'll ask."

I smiled and returned to my next burger. Tom's three nuggets were last to eat. After I finished off my coke, I realized the lack of the half fries did matter. I was still a little hungry. Tom was done with his meal except for his Shake. I looked at the shake then at him, and Tom rolled his eyes.

"Fine, here," Tom said handing me the shake. Then he stood up and walked back to the McDonalds Stand.

"Where are you going?" Abby asked. To pointed to the McDonalds stand with on hand while the other rubbed his stomach. Abby and I nodded in understanding. I was still eating the shake when I noticed Abby smiling at me again.

"Could you stop that?" I asked, "It's creeping me out."

"Sorry," she giggled, "But the both of you are so cute. He's never been happier with any of his previous girlfriends. And you're always on cloud nine whenever you look at him. I sense a classic romance novel!"

I choked on my shake for a second before glaring at Abby. She smiled innocently and we burst out into laughter. We continued talking about various things and I occasionally glanced at Tom, who was waiting in line. It wasn't until I glanced at him ordering when I saw a girl behind the counter instead of the guy. Abby turned her head and followed my gaze.

"Uh-oh, she's putting the moves on Tom," Abby said, "I can tell from the way he's nervously avoiding looking at her. Go bail him out."

"Gladly," I said, putting my now empty shake down and walking over to Tom. The girl was defiantly flirting at him, and Tom defiantly felt uncomfortable. I heard the last of her flirt as I made my way through the line.

"...So you busy at all tonight? I get off in around fifteen minutes," She suggested. She had blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Uhh.." Tom said nervously, I grabbed his hand and he looked at me. Relief washed over his face, and anger and frustration washed over the girl's.

"Yeah. He's busy with his _girlfriend_," I snapped at the girl. She sent a glare my way and finished punching the order into the cash register. She walked away to get Tom's order.

"Thanks, Hun," Tom whispered before leaning down to kiss my lips. I smiled and kissed him back. We broke after a second.

"Anytime," I said. Tom smiled at me. Then the cashier returned handing Tom his order with a smile, and then sending me a glare. I returned it and walked away with my arm around Tom's waist, while he had an arm around my shoulders. I could tell that just utterly pissed off the cashier chick even more, and I was fine with that.

"Well, if I ever doubted your relationship, That's long gone," Abby said smiling as we walked up to her, "What'cha get Tom?"

"Some fries for you," Tom said pulling them out and handing them to her, "More nuggets for me, and a Southern Style Chicken Sandwich for Xam."

I smiled as he handed me another sandwich. I officially had my McDonald's order down to perfection: Two Big Macs, Two Double Quarter pounders, and Two Southern Style Chicken Sandwiches. And try to snag some of Tom's nuggets every once and awhile.

I pulled my sandwich out as we walked outside to the car. Man it was cold. I was only wearing a T shirt. Tom and Abby were wearing jackets, I forgot to ask for one. Before Tom started to eat his nuggets, he noticed my shiver. He slid his jacket off and handed it to me.

"Wear it," he said, "It's my turn to deal with the cold."

I wasn't going to argue with him...not until later. We got back into the car and Tom and Abby ate, while I went through Tom's music.

"What's Val Ein Tine?" I asked. Tom coughed on a nugget and Abby started to laugh.

"You still have it!?" Abby asked smiling at Tom through the mirror, "I thought you deleted that months ago!"

"What is it?" I asked again. I looked back at Tom to see he was blushing.

"Nothing!" Tom said hurriedly, "An old playlist I made a long time ago."

"Play it! Play it!" Abby chided, "It's his Valentine's Day playlist! He made it three years ago when we were both single and at home. He played it while we made fun of romantic movies that took over the TV for a day. It's actually a bunch of really sweet song!"

I pressed play and a slow guitar strumming started.

"**Can't Fight this Feeling**?" I asked as I read the title of the song. It was on some soundtrack called **Glee: The music Vol.1**. I looked back to Tom again to see he had a hand over his face and he was bright red.

"Aww, Tom," I said, "This is cute."

"Oh, be quiet," Tom muttered. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. I unbuckled (Note: Don't ever do this in a moving vehicle!) and moved to the back to sit next to Tom. I leaned on his left shoulder and hummed along with the song.

"I like it," I whispered. Tom moved his head to look at me, eyebrows raised. I laughed and placed a kiss on his lips. After breaking the kiss Tom asked me silently why I liked it.

"It's sweet," I said resting my head back on his shoulder, "And I think it reflects your personality."

"Oh," Tom said quietly. He shuffled an arm around my shoulders again, and I leaned even more into him. Then a new song started up. Another guitar opening, but it also had a piano along with it. Abby had to stop for a light and she looked back at Tom.

"This is now officially my favorite playlist," Abby said, "It's got the Flatts!"

"The what?" I asked. Tom chuckled. Abby turned around singing along with the song.

"The song is **I Melt** by Rascal Flatts," Tom said, "The band that's on your shirt. They're from Cleveland. I met them once, helping my Dad get bikes to them. They're country stars. Just listen."

I closed my eyes and listened and by the end of the song, I knew who my favorite band was. That song was so beautiful, it actually reminded me of what Abby said earlier about Tom and I's relationship. We always melted to each other. We listened to a few more songs before Tom nudged me with his hand lightly on my shoulder.

"Here's another Flatts' song," Tom said, "I like it. It's one of their earliest ones, **Praying for Daylight**."

When the chorus came up Tom sang along to it softly, Abby joined him on the second chorus. Unfortunately, halfway through the song, Abby pulled into a parking spot and shut the car off.

"Sorry, lovebirds, pun intended," Abby said, "But we're here."

I regretfully got up and out of the car, once again waiting a second for Tom as he grabbed his Zune and got out. When I turned around we were in a motorcycle haven. There were bikes everywhere. A tall skinny guy most likely in his thirties walked up to us and shook Tom and Abby's hands. He paused at me, we looked at each other. This guy had brown hair and a brown royale beard. He also had a pair of goggles around his neck.

"Jake, this is Xam," Tom said, wrapping an arm around me, "Xam, meet Jake. One of the best damn motorcycle mechanics I know. And I know a lot."

Jake held his hand out and I shook it.

"Pleasure," Jake said, and then he turned to Tom, "The Bike's fine, I just have a loafer I need you to help me get rid of."

"Frankie again?" Tom asked. When Jake nodded, Tom shook his head.

"Needs to leave my shit alone," Tom said, "Abs, you worked with Frankie, can you try and get 'er to stay out of my business?"

"If I wanted to go to prison for manslaughter," Abby responded, "Why don't we just call the cops again?"

"Because," Jake said, "Business is bad enough, I don't need an investigation or case on my hands. I'm just going to say it like this...I had to 'fix' the security cameras."

Tom's smile turned grim and he walked past Jake into the garage. I heard muffled shouting afterwards, a lot of vulgar language from Tom's mouth and more from this Fred person's. Was it me or did Fred sound like a girl?

"You fucking bastard! You lying FUCK!" 'Fred' yelled.

"I told you Frankie! I fucking told you! I never cheated! You did! You Blew it! I MOVED ON! YOU CAN TOO!" Tom yelled back. I heard a crash. I ran to the garage door, despite Abby calling my name.

"BULLSHIT!" Frankie yelled. I went inside the garage when I heard another smash.

"Would you STOP HITTING MY BIKE!" Tom yelled. I looked around, the garage wasn't a mess. Tom's bike, on the other hand...it's looked better I bet.

"Tom!?" I called. And everything stopped. From behind the bike a girls figure was visible. She was white and had brown hair. She looked like an athlete and she looked pissed.

"Is this your whore!?" Frankie yelled pointing at me and looking to my right. I followed her gaze and saw it land on Tom. Tom's hands were clenched and his jaw was tight.

"You don't ever call her that again!" Tom shouted pointing at her, "If anyone's the whore around here, it's you! Now for the last time, just leave! Before I do something I really don't want to do!"

"You don't want to do!?" Frankie yelled, "You already cheated on me! Why shouldn't I warn her about your cheating ass!?"

Tom ran a hand over his face. He was frustrated, and he was pissed. He moved his hand and looked at me.

"Xam, come here," he said calmly, but I could tell he was just trying to calm down by distracting himself. I walked over to him and gave him a hug. He squeezed back, just barely enough to not crush my wings.

"OH MY GOD! YOU'RE FUCKING KIDDING ME! YOU WANT TO FUCK HER NOW DON'T YOU!?" Frankie shrieked. Tom tensed again, but I snapped this time.

"You shut the fuck up!" I shouted pointing at her, "Tom's given you one warning too many! If you don't leave in the next three seconds, I'll make you wish you left when he gave you the chance!"

"I'd like to see you try!" She shouted back. I almost lunged at her, but then a Shotgun went off.

"Francine! Get the fuck off my property! If I ever see you here again, I'll pump you full of lead! Got IT!?" Jake shouted behind us, the barrel of his shotgun smoking.

Frankie sent another glare Tom's way, then one to me, which I returned, and stormed out of the garage. She got in a car that was parked three spaces from ours. She pulled out and sped away. After a few minutes I turned back to Tom.

"Who was that?" I asked softly. Tom exhaled through his nostrils and then took a breath.

"Someone I'd rather forget," Tom said, "That was Francine. I really never wanted you to meet her, but I guess its better you met her sooner then later. She's wrecked a lot of my past relationships."

"We can talk more about it later," I said, I looked back at the trashed bike, "I'm sorry about your bike."

"It's okay..." Tom sighed, "it's not your fault. I liked that Soft Tail, too. Oh well."

"I can fix it up again, Tom," Jake said, "just take me a couple of weeks."

"You don't have to Jake," Tom said. Jake raised a hand to stop him.

"No, I insist," Jake said, "I'll work on it in my spare time, you just be sure to come help out every now and then."

Tom smiled and nodded, "Thanks Jake, you're the best."

We started to walk away before Jake replied.

"I know," Jake said, "I'll see you later, guys. Oh, and Xam, pleasure meeting you."

"You too!" I called over my shoulder. I sat in the back with Tom. He was still fuming. He must have really liked that bike.

"I wanted to take you for a ride, Xam," Tom said, "You'd loved it. She rides so smooth, it's like flying on the ground."

"I'll just have to wait then," I said, before giving him a small kiss.

* * *

**AN: Yes. Those playlists mentioned are real playlists of mine. Val Ein Tine was just because I was bored around two years ago. My Zune is pink for Breast cancer patients. The story about the aunt is fact, not fiction. As for the rest...That I made up.**

**Now I'm really hungry for Mickey D's. And I can't go get any yet. Damn.**

**Keep on Keepin on**

**Tsparks158**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Okay, okay. I'll write another chapter. Jeez. You people...are so pushy. *imitating Napoleon Dynamite* Gosh!**

**Disclaimer: Let it be known that I have no legal possession over the character Max II.**

***WARNING* Another lemon scene. Sorry. It just fits the moment.**

* * *

**Xam POV**

We were riding in the car. I was resting my head on Tom's shoulder, Tom had wrapped an arm around me and his head resting on my own, and Abby driving up front. Tom had calmed down after a few minutes and was back to normal. I was in a complete state of bliss. And Abby was fine listening to the music Tom played.

We were heading home, well Tom and Abby's apartment, before Abby's cell rang. Abby answered it to a frantic girl on the other end. Abby eventually calmed the girl on the other end down before agreeing to picking her up.

"So what are we doing again?" I asked Tom. Tom shrugged. He was looking down at his Zune, looking through the songs, trying to find a certain one.

"Abby's friend Chelsea has _finally_ decided we were right about her abusive boyfriend," Tom said, his eyes still scanning his Zune, "We are going to go pick her up and she's staying with us."

"Where?" I asked. Their apartment wasn't all that big, just enough room for two or three people. Tom turned his attention to me and kissed my forehead.

"I have my backup room, member?" he whispered against my head. I giggled softly. Tom smirked and went back to looking at his Zune. And then my curiosity got the best of me.

"What song are you looking for?" I asked innocently. I craned my head to try and get a better look at the small screen. Tom smiled and hid the screen from my sight.

"You'll see," he said. I lightly punched him and he snickered. About five minutes later a new song came on through the speakers. It had a slow guitar opening.

"What song is this?" I asked. I saw Tom smile a little out of the corner of my eye.

"It's by one of my favorite bands," Tom said softly. He started to rub my shoulder lightly and I relaxed a little more.

"That's doesn't answer my question," I stated. I could feel my eyes start to droop shut. The music and the loving caress combined was apparently enough to make me sleepy. I snuggled closer to Tom.

"It's called **I Won't Let Go**," Tom whispered. He kissed the top of my head and then rested his head on my own again, "It's by Jet Black Stare."

"Oh, this is a good song," Abby said, "Tom, you ol' softy, you."

Tom playfully growled in response. I softly giggled again. Around the middle of the song, I heard a light snore. I moved my head out from under Tom's and he just fell in the other direction. Abby started to laugh.

"And he. Is. Outta there!" Abby said laughing, "That's a prime example of why we don't let Tom drive often. He could fall asleep under the right conditions."

I laughed along with Abby. Then I grabbed Tom lightly and sat him back upright, and I repositioned myself on his shoulder. Tom's arm found itself around my shoulder again. As did his head, which found itself on my head. I closed my eyes and smiled as I listened to Tom's steady breathing and the soft music that was playing.

Abby came up to a red light, I knew that because I felt the car slow down, and quickly started to dig through her purse. Quite loudly I might add. I cracked a eye open and watched her dig.

"Found it!" she announced to herself quietly. She turned around to face us with a camera in her hands. Abby took a quick picture, I had shut my eye to resume the illusion that I was asleep along with Tom.

"That's going on FaceBook," Abby said quietly. I smiled a little bigger. I didn't know what face book was, but I knew Abby sounded happy when she said it. When the car slowed to a stop about ten minutes later, Tom woke up. He stretched his legs a little and hugged me tighter for a second with his arm.

"That was a good nap," Tom said through a yawn. I giggled a little again as I stretched a little too. I stretched my wings slightly so they barely got out through the slits of my shirt and then opened the car door. Tom followed me out and fully stretched his arms and back. He cracked his neck and led the way to the building we parked near.

"Think Al is home?" Abby asked Tom. He shrugged.

"Won't matter," Tom said opening the front door, "I'm calling the cops and pressing charges."

"The Big Brother has returned," Abby mumbled as she walked past Tom. I smirked at Tom and he smiled back before following us inside. Abby and I let Tom walk ahead of us.

Abby smiled at a family coming from the opposite direction. She received a smile from the parents in return. The little boy with them watched us with curious eyes. Tom stopped in front of the elevators and pressed the Up button. Abby tapped her foot impatiently while we waited for the elevator to arrive. I sent her an annoyed look.

"What?" Abby asked. I looked from her face, to her tapping foot, and to her face again. I raised an eyebrow slightly, as if to ask "Really?"

"Fuck you, Xam," Abby said neutrally. Tom snickered and I smiled and shook my head. When the elevator arrived, Abby huffed and brushed past Tom into the elevator. Tom and I exchanged a smile and entered behind her. The elevator music was terrible, and then my unnatural claustrophobia kicked in.

_Damn you, Max!_ I thought as my breathing and heart rate spiked. I moved closer to Tom. His and Abby's apartment elevators were bigger then this one, which looked as though it could barely fit four people. My hand wrapped itself around Tom's. Tom looked at me and leaned closer.

"What's up, Xam?" He asked softly. I mumbled an incoherent response, but Tom seemed to get it all the same.

He pulled me closer and wrapped his arms around me. I returned the hug a little tighter then him and buried my head into his chest with my eyes closed. He kissed the top of my head and the rested his chin on my head. He started to hum a familiar tune.

"Tom?" Abby asked, "Why are you humming **Melt**?"

Tom stopped humming, "Xam's a little claustrophobic apparently. Plus, the elevator music here sucks."

I smiled despite my embarrassment of having to be held while we rode in the elevator. Tom resumed humming and continued to hum until we reached the floor we needed. When the doors opened, Tom walked me out.

"We're taking the stairs down," Tom whispered to me quietly before releasing the hold he had on me. I nodded my agreement. The elevators here stink.

"You're claustrophobic? How come you didn't react that way in our elevator?" Abby asked walking next to me on my left side. Tom was slightly ahead on my right.

I shrugged, "I don't know. I think it's from my, um, donors DNA."

Abby nodded her understanding. We all continued until we started to hear muffled shouting and then a muffled crash. Tom and Abby sped up and stopped in front of a door. Tom raised his left arm and banged on the door.

"AL! OPEN THE DOOR!" Tom called into the door. He got a muffled 'Fuck you, Faggot!' in response. Tom rolled his eyes and banged again.

"CHELSEA! COME ON, LET'S GO!" He got another 'Get lost!' in response. Tom stepped back.

"I'm kicking it open," Tom said, "Back up."

Abby and I took a step back. Tom brought his left leg back and kicked the door open.

"FUCKIN BITCH!" a Southern accented male voice shouted.

Tom and Abby entered before me. When I entered, I was disgusted by what I saw. The whole entrance room was a pigsty. Rather it was the only room aside from a bedroom. In the middle was a guy around 6' 2" and he was in striped boxers, a white tank top, and a blue robe. He had a beer gut and had brown hair. Abby walked around him to a girl that was whimpering on the floor, crouched up into a ball. She had two suit cases near her.

I walked over to Abby and who was apparently Chelsea. Chelsea was pretty beaten up. She had bruises everywhere and a cut here and there, but nothing too serious. Chelsea was a red haired girl and was a little skinnier then me. She had a set of dark green eyes, and was wearing jeans and a green top. A winter jacket was also at her side. I crouched near them.

"Abby, is there anything I can do to help?" I asked. Abby nodded.

"Grab her bags," Abby said, as she started to help Chelsea up.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" The Robed Guy, shouted, "THAT BITCH NEEDS T- Oof!"

Tom interrupted him with a punch to the gut.

"Al, shut the fuck up," Tom said. He was all business right now, not in his normal joking playful mood. Even though I knew I could beat him in a fight (not that I'd ever want to), I mentally reminded myself to never get on Tom's bad side. It was a little scary.

"Fuck you, Fag," Al said again. He stood up straighter and swung a fist at Tom. Tom blocked with his right forearm and brought his left fist around to hit Al in the jaw. Al stumbled backwards a little before charging at Tom again. Tom dropped and placed his left foot in front of Al's right ankle and bringing his right foot around to the back of Al's shin. Al fell flat on his face. He rolled over clutching his face with both hands.

Tom stood back up and grabbed the front of Al's shirt and brought more right fisted punches down on Al's face. When he released Al, Al's lip was split open. Tom stood up straight and exhaled a second before looking at us and smiling.

"So," Tom said panting, "We ready to go now?"

"You ain't going anywhere," Al mumbled getting back up. He charged into Tom's stomach, making him "Oof!", and ran him into the wall. Tom's back ran straight into a picture. Al backed off to start wailing blows on Tom, who used his arms to shield his head. I dropped the suit case I was holding and went over to grab the back of his robe. I pulled Al off Tom and brought my knee up to his stomach.

Al collapsed to his knees. I looked up to see Abby walking Chelsea out the door. Abby mouthed "We'll be at the car," and I nodded my agreement. Tom walked up next to me and grabbed Al's head. Tom brought his knee up to Al's nose with a satisfying crunch. Al wailed in pain and fell onto his back. Tom grabbed my arm and led me to the door.

"You'd better tidy up, Al," Tom said grabbing the handle, "You're gonna have company soon."

Tom slammed the door shut behind us and turned to face me. He placed his hands on my cheeks, leaned in a little, and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, melting into the kiss, and his hands went lower to my waist. I don't know what brought the kiss on, but I wasn't going to argue about that fact now. When the kiss broke Tom turned me around and rested an arm around my waist. I returned the gesture with an arm around his waist. We began to walk to the stairs.

"So what brought that kiss on?" I asked. Tom smiled again and looked at me.

"Those fighting skills of yours," Tom said, "talk about turn on. Watching you pull him off me and knee him in the gut plus the hormones that were, and are, currently raging through me...I was defiantly needing a kiss after that. Maybe even something a little more later."

I shoved Tom away a little before wrapping my arm around him again. He chuckled and we continued to walk down the hallway until we made it to the stairway. We went down the stairs and out the front door to where Abby was waiting in her car for us. We entered our spots in the back and buckled in. Tom leaned pulled his cell phone out.

"There's no need, Tom," Abby said, " I did it as soon as we hit the parking lot. There's a squad car on the way."

"Good to hear, Abs," Tom said putting his phone away. He turned his attention to Chelsea, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

"Chelsea, are you okay?" he asked softly. She nodded and turned around to face us.

"Yeah, thanks T," She said, and then she focused her attention on me, "who's this?"

"Oh, right," Tom said, "Chelsea, this is Xam, my girlfriend. Xam, this is Chelsea."

"Our idiot," Abby muttered. Tom smirked and Chelsea blushed.

"I said I was sorry," Chelsea said, "I thought he would stop. Guess I was wrong."

"I thought Frankie would stop," Tom grumbled, "And she hasn't yet. Fucking psycho."

I put my hand on Tom's arm and he looked at me. Tom wrapped an arm over my shoulder and I relaxed into his embrace. We sat in silence, both of us listening to Abby and Chelsea's conversation the rest of the ride back.

When we returned to the apartment, as usual Lucy was waiting for us. She rubbed herself up against and around Tom's legs, mewing occasionally. I walked to the couch and collapsed. Tom went to the fridge and grabbed two pops then he walked over to join me. He sat on my left and handed me a Coke. I leaned onto his side, and again he wrapped his arm around me.

"So what I was talking about earlier," Tom said. I sat up and shoved him, smirking. Tom released another chuckle. I leaned back down and took a drink of my Coke.

"Maybe after I get some clothes," I whispered. Tom smiled.

"Never thought I'd be so excited to take two of the most addicted shopaholics clothes shopping," Tom said musingly. I giggled and relaxed as Tom turned the TV on. Some show was on with a two guys holding guns. They were shooting at some really F-ed up people with shotguns.

"What's this?" I asked Tom.

"_**Supernatural**_," Tom replied.

"What's it about?" I asked taking another swig of my Coke.

"Two brothers, whose mother died as a result of a demonic attack, were raised by their father, who was a Marine, and were trained by him to be monster hunters. The black haired guy is Dean and the other one is Sam," Tom explained.

"Nice description," I said sarcastically and smiling, "Makes everything much clearer now."

"At least it's not _**LOST**_," Tom said, "I have no fucking clue what's going on that show. And I can make sense of the most fucked up stuff on TV. So be grateful."

I shrugged and relaxed even more against Tom. A few hours of TV watching later, we went to bed.

* * *

A few days later, Tom informed me it was one of those days he goes to his "other" room. I was curious and decided I wanted to know what Tom was so excited about. I was changing to make it seem as though Tom and I were going out. Abby and Chelsea, who healed quite nicely and has yet to learn of my wings, took me shopping two days earlier. I now had taken over half Tom's closet, not that he minded. After I finished changing, I walked out to the living room to tell Tom I was ready to go.

"Are you sure you want to go out tonight?" Abby asked Tom and I as we walked to the door, "It's Monday. And Tom, you still have three days off, why not wait?"

"I want to take Xam out tonight, Abs," Tom said pulling his jacket on. I was pulling my own on, "We might not see you until tomorrow morning anyway."

"Fine," Abby huffed, "But Chelsea and I are ordering a chick flick and eating your ice cream then Tom."

"Whatever," Tom said as we walked out the door. Tom and I walked down the hall and around the corner to Tom's other room. Tom used his key to unlock the hidden door and push it open.

"Why is the door hidden again?" I asked. Tom shrugged.

"Got me," Tom said, "I just know that if Abs ever found out about this room, I'd be in big trouble."

Tom walked into the room and took his jacket off. I followed and took my jacket off as well. Tom shut the door behind me. He then walked to his closet and started to change his shirt. He threw his solid red T-shirt to the floor and then dug around in his closet for the shirt he wanted to wear tonight.

"Which one? Which one?" Tom mumbled to himself. He finally decided on a red T that had U Can's See Me logo on the back. There was a no smoking-like symbol around a huge white C instead of it saying Can't See. Tom pulled it on over his body. It clung tightly to him, showing where his chest and abdomen separated. Tom went back to his digging before pulling a black shirt out and tossing it to me.

"What's this?" I asked him as I caught the shirt. I looked over the front, on it was a Skull with its mouth open and over a winged pink heart. Turning the shirt around I saw there were already slits cut into it and a name printed in pink on the back.

"Who's Bret Hart?" I asked. Tom smiled.

"He's a Hall of Famer," Tom said, "The Hitman, they called him. He was 'The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.' And the pink was his color, not because that's a woman's shirt."

"Cool," I said. Tom turned around and I rolled my eyes.

"Not like you haven't seen anything under here before, Tom," I said. Tom shrugged and turned around.

"Now that I have your permission," Tom joked. I took my shirt off and replaced it with my "Hitman" shirt. It fit comfortably and my wings slid out smoothly. I stretched them to their full length. That felt fantastic.

"There's a sexy look," Tom said again. I smirked and brought my wings in a little. Tom and I laid in our positions on the couch, Tom on his back and me on my stomach on top of him. Tom grabbed a remote and turned the TV on. Music and lights blared as the show moved on.

About halfway through, I knew why Tom hated the word Awesome. That Miz guy...what a creep. And Tom's right in a way, I can't believe he's from Cleveland. Oh well, sucks to be Tom.

Tom was a little disappointed at the end of the show. His favorite group, D-Generation X, lost their titles. Tom felt better when he saw that Cena guy just unleash a beating on the oiled guy, Ted. I'll admit I did, too. That was just too funny. As soon as the one guy made it to the ring and the bell went off, Cena beat the guy to a pulp. He was wailing on him so much, it cost him the match.

When the show ended Tom clicked the TV off. Then he turned his attention to me.

"What'cha think?" Tom asked. I bent down a little to kiss him on the lips.

"I think it's...okay," I said, "I'm not 100% into it yet. Maybe after a few more _persuasions_."

Tom got the hint immediately and his hands started to roam. We nipped and kissed everywhere on each other.

"Did I ever mention how much I love the WWE?" Tom asked in between his kisses. I giggled.

"I don't think you have," I said, "but for the sake of this moment, just don't stop...Eep! Doing _that_."

Tom grinned and resumed his teasing. The adrenaline watching that show started to really pay off when we removed our clothes. This time, I was on top. Tom's hard member sandwiched between us. I sat up and let it spring out. I positioned myself over him.

"Ready?" Tom asked under me. I smirked.

"Like you have to ask," I said. I lowered myself onto his member and we both simultaneously moaned. It had been an at least five days ago when Tom and I met, and first had sex. Now instead of pain then pleasure, all I felt was pleasure. My wings expanded slightly when I moved my hips back up.

Tom's hands gripped my hips, helping guide me up and down his member. I put my hands on his chest and pushed myself into a sitting position. I moaned again and Tom released another moan as well. His hands gripped a little harder and helped my bounce up and down on his member. My hands found themselves massaging my breasts. When one of Tom's hands went to my left breast, I moaned. This went on for about another half hour before Tom and I came.

I collapsed on Tom and he carefully slid himself out of me. We both gave each other another kiss. I looked back into Tom's eyes.

"Round two?" I asked. Tom nodded and rolled us carefully on the couch. He was hard again after a few minutes of subtle kissing. He entered me a little faster then last time. But then didn't do anything. He just freaking stopped!

"Why did you stop?" I asked. Tom had a thinking look on his face.

"Let's try another position," Tom said. I nodded, a little eager to resume having another wonderful experience with Tom. Tom slid out again and turned me so my back was to him.

"Now kneel on your hands and knees, Hun," he instructed. And I did so. Tom massaged my butt cheeks before spreading them slightly and entering my vagina from behind. One of his hands massaged my sensitive spot and another went around to fondle my breasts. I moaned as Tom started to pound into me. His massaging and fondling using a little pressure.

"Ohhh, Tooooom," I moaned out. God, I was ready to cum again. So close.

"Xam," Tom grunted out. He started to apply more force as he thrusted in and out of me. And that did it for me. I came moaning Tom's name and was shortly followed my Tom moaning mine. He slid out of me for a third time and I rolled again, so we could face each other. I smiled at Tom and he smiled back.

"I realized something tonight," I told Tom.

"What?" he asked, laying carefully behind me. He reached onto the side of the couch to pull a blanket over us.

"I love the WWE," I said facing him. Tom smiled and we gave each other a short and sweet kiss. We fell asleep shortly afterward. I couldn't speak for Tom, but I knew that I would only be dreaming of tonight for the next month.

...Or until we decide to do it again.

* * *

**AN: I know what you're thinking, "How could you!"**

**Suck it up, boys and girls! You're reading a M rated fic, I can write what I want when I want.**

**Deal with it. ...and don't forget to review.**

**Keep on Keepin on**

**Tsparks158**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: And now I am adding 2, yes, 2 more characters (possibly more) to the cast of Xam's Story. Both are not mine, they belong to the author Ms. Ador and Rose. ...I didn't choose her screen name, so don't ask.**

**It has been brought to my attention I mentioned Xam had known Abby and Tom for only a few weeks...yeah well that was a typo. I probably meant a few days. Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Xam (I refuse to call her Max 2) and Rose and Kyla are not mine, as stated above. I guess the only three I own are Tom, Chelsea, and Abby. Sad.**

* * *

**Xam's POV**

I woke up to the sound of Tom's phone...again! I've decided I hate phones.

_It's so hard to let go of the past, _

_Forever on my mind._

_I never dreamed things could change so fas-_

"What now!?" Tom groaned as he reached over me for the phone. He flipped it open, read whatever message was on the screen, and then slammed it shut.

"Well...shit," Tom grumbled. He flipped the phone shut and started to get up. He nudged me with one arm, "Xam. Xam, baby, you gotta get up."

"I don't wanna," I mumbled with my eyes squeezed shut. I didn't want to get up. I heard Tom release a sigh, and felt the couch shift. I heard scuffling and soft cussing as Tom looked around for his clothes.

"Ow, Dammit!" Tom whispered exclaimed. I giggled softly; he must've stubbed his toe. I could feel Tom's scowl on me. I heard more clothes rustling and wondered what he was looking for now, considering the noise he made for getting dressed stopped.

"Xam," Tom whispered from my other side, "At least get up for two minutes to get dressed."

I growled and Tom sighed again.

"Guess I'll have to dress you then," Tom said. He started to dress me in my clothes I was wearing about...three or four hours ago. (Go internal bird clock, whoop whoop. Not.) After Tom dressed me, he put his arms under my back and legs. I realized he was carrying me, so I tucked my head onto his shoulder a little.

"What time is it?" I asked with a yawn. Tom let a soft chuckle out as he shut the door behind us. We were in the hallway now.

"Oh, about...I wanna say 2:15," Tom said. I growled again.

"I hate phones," I grumbled softly. Tom laughed softly.

"Same here," he said, "I only have one because society expects us to have one...which means you have to get one soon."

I whimpered and buried my face half into Tom's shoulder more. Tom started to softly laugh again. He paused in front of his apartment door and shuffled his hands around carefully to get the key in the lock. From the other side of the door I heard footsteps.

"Just wait," I whispered. Tom's shuffling stopped and the movement behind the door ended and Chelsea opened the door.

"Where were-oh," Chelsea started to scold and then started to whisper, "Is she sleeping?"

Tom scoffed, "She better be, cause this is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Chelsea laughed at that. Tom moved past her and walked to his room, I kept my wings clinging close to me so that I wouldn't have to wake up completely just yet and make an really, really long explanation (well it would have been in my case). Tom kicked his door open lightly and walked in. He walked to the bed and laid me on my side of it. I sighed in comfort a little as I scooted under the covers. Tom got in bed next to me.

"Night Xammy. I love you," He whispered before giving me a kiss goodnight.

"Night Tommy. I love you, too." I replied. Tom snickered. I fell asleep with his arms around my waist and my head on his shoulder.

I woke up again to the smell of bacon, eggs, potatoes, and...Chicken?

_Who the hell uses chicken for breakfast?_ I thought stretching. I expanded my wings a little before regretfully pulling them back in.

_I should tell Chelsea about my wings as soon as I can, this is getting ridiculous_, I thought as I walked over to my dresser and changed out of my clothes from the night before. Now I was wearing another one of Tom's modified T-shirts. It was his Cleveland Browns t shirt from '06. I was also wearing some blue pajama bottoms underneath they had the word "ANGEL" on the butt. Abby's idea of humor. Tom laughed, I didn't.

_I know a little "angel" that deserves...No. No, no, no, that was the old you. That was Max II, now you're Xam. You don't need to deal with the School or the Flock anymore, you got two friends here that understand you,_ I reminded myself. I haven't heard anything of the Flock in about two years; I think the last lead was them being in Canada or something. Whatever.

I walked out of Tom and I's room and into the hallway, towards the kitchen/living room. The first thing I noticed was the music, it sounded like a hip-hop remix. Tom's been teaching me more about music and movies of today's culture. And so far our interests match, with various Abby and Chelsea variables thrown in. He and Abby got into an argument over music in the car four days ago. Abby told me she thinks he's weird for not liking Lady GaGa, whoever the Hell that is. Tom replied to that with, "In my book, she's as bad as that Justine Bieber girl. But that's just my opinion."

I looked over to see Tom nodding his head to the loud music and moving his arms over the stove. Curious, I walked closer. I heard him singing along to the music.

"...you are a shooting Star, that's why you are my favorite," He sang along quietly. I snuck up behind him and wrapped my arms around him, he jumped a little.

"Hey, Xam," He said trying to blow off his jump. Yeah, cause I'm gonna let that go.

I giggled, "I scared you, didn't I?"

"Maybe," Tom said, "Hungry? Made my Dad's famous Garbage Burritos. Just slightly better then his Breakfast Burritos."

"You can cook?" I asked. Tom chuckled.

"Not often," he said, "I tend to be a fire hazard. But hey, I cook what I can and people line up to eat. You should have seen Abby and Chelsea before they left."

"Why?" I asked sitting on a stool near the island and watching him make the burritos, "Where they hungry?"

"Yep," Tom said as he handed me three burritos while keeping one for himself, "They almost killed each other for one, too. You can go ahead and let your wings out, Abby took Chelsea out to meet some of her other Girlfriends. They're dragging them back here after they finished shopping."

I sighed thankfully as my wings unfolded; I stretched them out again and flapped them once. I noticed Tom had been watching me with what looked like envy.

"What'cha staring at?" I asked before taking a bite of the possibly hazardous burrito. Mmm, I take that hazardous comment back...who knew that chicken, eggs with bacon, and mashed potatoes work well in a burrito? Obviously Tom and his dad did.

"Nothing," Tom said, "I was just thinking...what's it like?"

"Flying?" I asked. Tom nodded before taking a bite of his burrito.

"It's amazing," I said taking another bite of my burrito, "There's no other experience like it. There are its downsides though...what song is this?"

"Mm, Sorry," Tom said finishing his burrito and pulling a small remote from his pocket, changing the song to a different one.

"That was Eminem," Tom said, "This, is more to your taste. It's called **Country Boy (Remixed)**"

"Who's it by?" I asked taking a bite of my second burrito. I watched Tom as he took his dish to the sink and cleaned his mess from the oven.

"Believe it or not, it's by Johnny Cash," Tom said. My jaw dropped involuntarily. Johnny Cash? The original Rock N' Roll outlaw? No way.

"You're kidding," I said slightly shocked, "This has to be someone else. Like Kid Rock or, or Limp Bizkit."

"Wow," Tom said chuckling, "I've shown you a lot haven't I? But yeah, it's Cash. I said it was remixed, though. Remember?"

I mentally smacked myself. I growled a little and finished my second burrito (I was getting a little full), and started my last one. Tom finished the dishes and turned around and walked over to me, smiling.

"Hey chillax, Xam. So you got a little surprised, so what?" He said teasingly. I flicked his forehead, making him laugh. I smiled as I put my half eaten third burrito down...I was full!

"You done?" Tom asked. With wide eyes, I turned to him and I nodded. Tom looked me in the eyes and started to snicker again.

"What's so funny?" I asked. Tom shook his head.

"Your face," He said still laughing. I glared at him and he laughed again, "No, you're surprised expression. It's cute."

I blushed and turned away. Tom cupped my chin and turned me to face him. He leaned in with another kiss and I melted again. When we broke, Tom had a small smile on his face.

"What?" I asked. Before Tom could answer, the door opened with Chelsea walking in first.

"Tom! Xam! We're Ho-o-oh my god," She said as she looked at me. No, Chelsea was looking above me...At my wings! Abby and two other girls walked in behind her. The two girls were also staring at my wings, making me very uncomfortable. Tom stood up and glared at them. No effect, except on Abby. She smacked the two girls over the head.

"Hey!" The black haired girl said. Judging by her hair growing past her shoulders, I'd say her hair was down to the middle of her back.

"OW!" The girl with dirty blonde hair said. Her hair reached to her shoulders.

"It's not polite to stare, CHELSEA!" Abby called her name as she hit her over the head.

"OWWW!" Chelsea whined, "Why'd you hit me!?"

"And us?" The blonde asked. I looked her over quickly. She was tall, but a little bit of a pear shaped figure. She was wearing a John Lennon T-shirt and flare jeans. I saw a set of brown boots over in the corner, they must have been hers, considering she and Abby (who doesn't own brown boots) were the only ones, aside from Tom and myself, who were in socks or barefoot, in Tom's case.

The black haired girl looked like that emo guy in Max's flock... I could never remember his name... Tooth? Molar? Oh right, _Fang_. She looked a little like him, except her eyes were red instead of black with gold flecks. She had an hourglass figure and was wearing a red blouse. Like her blonde friend, she was wearing flare jeans, but unlike her polite friend, she was wearing her red converse inside the house.

"Xam," Tom whispered, "wings ...and don't be a Jericho."

I folded my wings and sent him a questionable look. Tom shrugged and walked around behind me, putting his arms around me in a hug, showing he was there for me. I gratefully squeezed his arm with one of my hands. We both looked ahead to the three girls who were very lost, very confused, and possible in need of a doctor for head trauma.

"So..." I started. The blonde, black haired, and Chelsea all looked at me. The blonde and black haired girls were looking past me (again) and at Tom. I felt Tom squeeze me reassuringly.

"This is your new Girlfriend!?" the blonde one asked. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Yeah it is, Kyla," Tom said, "Deal with it."

"Um, Earth to Tom!" the black haired girl said, "She has wings!! You're okay with this!?"

"Ahh, fuck you Rose," Tom said dismissing the question. He kissed my cheek and then smirked at them, "Who I love is none of your guys' business."

I mentally thanked Tom for two things. One: now I knew the two new girls names. And two: His statement reassuring his love for me. All I felt was my heart soar with more happiness at being loved and love for Tom. He was too good for me, even if he says otherwise.

"Sh-she h-ha-has wings!" Chelsea said in shock. Tom shook his head.

"Chels," Tom said warningly, "If you aren't good with it now, then I suggest you leave. For good."

"No, no, no," Chelsea said coming over to us and grabbing my wrist, "she HAS to explain how she got wings. I want to know everything. This is so great!"

I raised my eyebrows at her eagerness to learn about my past. She reminded me of Tom when he first saw my wings. And then there was the fact that Tom didn't stop her from pulling me away from him. I turned to look at Tom and he had a lost look on his face. He shrugged and followed us to the couches, where Chelsea sat me down. Tom sat on the table while Abby, Rose, and Kyla took spots on the couch. Chelsea and I were on the loveseat, and all eyes were on me. I looked at Tom for help.

".......Fine," Tom sighed out. He walked over to me and picked me up, and then pulling me onto his lap. I blushed furiously while Tom smirked and wrapped his arms around me.

"Better?" Tom asked. He was holding in laughter, I could tell from his eyes.

"No," I replied, "Now I feel even more uncomfortable. Thanks."

And that did it for Tom, because he just snickered and stood back up. I sat back down in the spot I was in before. He went to the fridge and grabbed three Cokes, a bottle of water, and two Mountain Dews. He pulled his remote out again to turn the music off.

"Alright, Dews for Rose and Chels," Tom said tossing them their way. They both caught them expertly.

"A bottle of wa-wa for Kyla," Tom said in a mocking tone. Kyla glared at him and caught her water.

"And Cokes for the rest of us," Tom said tossing Abby a can and bringing me mine. Tom sat back down behind me on the arm of the loveseat. I opened my Coke and took a sip. Everyone was still looking at me expectantly. It made me too nervous. I set my Coke down, stood up, and left the room, fast.

Someone called my name, but I couldn't tell who, due to the fact I was already out of the room and making my way to Tom's other room. I went through various hallways, to lose any tailgaters I might have had. My main focus was making it to Tom's other room. Once there, I picked the lock and went in. I collapsed on the couch and started to cry.

_They couldn't understand! They wouldn't be able to handle it! They would deem me a freak and leave it at that_, I thought bitterly.

_No they wouldn't_, a small voice whispered. I ignored it and continued to cry, I was in a ball with my wings covering me.

**Third Person POV**

"What was that all about?" Rose asked everyone. Tom sighed and set his Coke down on the table.

"She's afraid of something," Tom said, "But Abs and I don't know what. I'm going for a jog, and then _I'll_ go look for her."

"But what about Xam?" Chelsea asked. Tom and Abby laughed.

"She can handle herself," Abby said, waving it off, "So you're going for a jog then, Tom?"

"Yeah," Tom said standing and cracking his neck. Chelsea winced.

"That's so gross," Chelsea said disgusted, "Do you have to do that?"

"Old habits are hard to break," Tom said walking to his room. He grabbed a pair of socks and sat down on his bed, pulling them on. When he sat, he woke Lucy up. Lucy gave a small meow to announce her whereabouts. Tom Smiled sheepishly and patted the feline's head.

"Sorry Luce," he said, "Forgot you were sleeping. Stick around and watch the girls for me, will ya?"

Tom got a mew in response and went with that. He went to his closet and pulled his blue Hurley T shirt out. Tossing his dirty shirt to the floor, Tom finished changing shirts and grabbed the rest of his stuff off his dresser. Wallet, spare keys, Swiss army knife, his cell, and his black Skullz headphones for his Zune. He sighed as he realized he was a little too addicted to music, and then laughed quietly when he remembered the words he said to the last person that said that.

"_You're addicted to PCP, Cocaine, Pot, and smoking and you're criticizing _me _about my music addiction? Yeah, we're through._" Were his words to that girl. He couldn't remember her name, but that's the sentence that kept his music addiction in check a little.

_Maybe I should tone down again_, Tom thought as he grabbed his black zipper hoodie. He zipped it up half-way before muttering, "Screw it." and unzipping it altogether. He grabbed his black Buell-Harley modified jacket and pulled that on over his hoodie.

In the living room he grabbed his Zune from its charger, plugged his Skullz in and put the headphones in place. He headed to the door with a final wave to the girls who were no doubt gossiping about something.

"Hey while you're out can you grab-?" Chelsea started but Tom cut her off.

"No!" he said shutting the door behind him. He checked the hallway before breaking into a run after pressing play on his playlist. **Bawitdaba** blared into his head. Tom ran through the hallways passing the elevators and hitting the stairs. He wall ran above the first three stairs before going down the rest normally, but still fast paced. HE jumped over the railing on the last set of stairs and rushed out the door.

_Wonder how long Xam'll need to calm down..._ he thought absently. Tom knew Xam needed to be alone right now, but he would be back in five minutes. He had a gut feeling and rolled with it. That's what he felt Xam needed, usually his gut instincts are right. Tom thought he understood girls, but they always changed the rules up every three or four months, making it harder to understand them. But growing up with a household of older sisters and a lot of girls in the surrounding area made Tom observant.

_Probably choosing Abby as a roommate was a smart move too,_ Tom thought to himself as he jumped over a decorative stone outside the grocery store. He pulled a headphone out of his head and browsed...

_I wonder if Xam likes Chocolate chip..._ Tom thought looking at the cookies in the isle. Then Tom chuckled to himself after reading the box.

"Well _that_ figures," Tom muttered. He shook his head and set the box down. A new song played into his right ear, **Here's to You** by the Flatts. He smiled remembering showing Xam the song a few days ago. Thinking of Xam, he grabbed a small package of _**Chips Ahoy!**_ And went to the self check-out line.

_Empty, yes!_ Tom thought as he rang his item up and pulled his wallet out to pay.

"Please wait while I take into account of your items," A computerized voice said.

_Oh Come ON!_ Tom thought as a snarl involuntarily came out. He shook his head and looked the machine over. Then he found it: The out of order sign.

"Damn," Tom muttered. **Rollin'** by Limp Bizkit began to play. He grabbed his package of _**Chips Ahoy!**_and moved to a line containing a toddler and her mother. The mom was digging through her purse, most likely looking for a coupon or something, while the toddler was looking around. Then her eyes locked on Tom's _**Chips Ahoy!**_ Package.

"Cookie!" the Toddler said pointing at the package. Tom rolled his eyes, remembering the often overheard conversations mothers and their kids had over junk food while shopping. The little girl began to bounce in her seat, her brown hair bouncing everywhere. The mother looked up from her digging and looked at Tom.

"I'm sorry, do you want to go ahead?" She asked. The mother had the same shade of brown hair and her daughter's eyes, but her skin was a darker shade of tan then her daughter's, she looked around three years older then himself. Tom shook his head, manners being more important to him right now then his own wants.

"No, I can wait...Is there any possible way I could help, that doesn't involve digging through your purse?" He asked with a smile. The mother shook her head.

"No, I was just looking for another $1.75 in cash, I knew I had some change somewhere," She said before resuming digging. Tom inwardly rolled his eyes and steamed, while on the outside he kept his kind demeanor and went into his back pocket and pulled his wallet out. He pulled out two singles and held them out.

"Here, use mine," he offered, but to himself he continued, _so I can get the heck outta here, geez lady. Really? You couldn't write a check for …oh, never mind then_.

He saw her total was only $21.75. If anyone would write a check or use their credit card for that, then that someone was a major idiot. Tom pressed pause on his Zune and persisted, the mother refused.

"I couldn't do that," The woman said pushing his hand away.

"No, I insist," Tom said. The mother smiled thankfully at him and took the money. After paying the cashier she moved down to grab her three bags, her little girl still pointing and chanting "Cookie" over and over again. She left the store as Tom finished paying for his own stuff. He went outside and saw the mother again in the parking lot.

He smiled and went over to the car. He pulled the cookie package out of the bag and opened it. Two cookies in hand he walked up to the mother he helped earlier. She was currently buckling her daughter in the back seat. The little brunette saw Tom and called out "Cookie!"

Tom chuckled as he got closer to the mother.

"No, sweetie," The mother said, "later, now we have to get home."

"Uhh, I think she's talking about me," Tom said behind her. The woman jumped before turning around. She put a hand over her chest.

"Don't do that!" She exclaimed. Tom laughed a little.

"Just wanted to give your daughter these," Tom said holding up two cookies, "I'm partially the reason she's so hyped up for cookies, so I figured I'd save you a headache."

"Oh, well," The mother looked at Tom with a suspicious glance. Tom rolled his eyes and held up a cookie to his mouth and took a bite. He lifted the package up to show he wasn't kidding about the cookies.

"Allergies?" Tom asked. And the mother nodded. Tom smiled and pulled another cookie out.

"Yes," The mother said, "She's allergic to nuts of every kind."

"I know the feeling," Tom said looking at the little girl and then the mother, "You can trust me on this, these are nut free. Otherwise I wouldn't be conscious right now."

"Really?" The mother asked shocked. Tom nodded and pulled his Tags out from under his shirt. On the second one **(AN: Xam didn't get a long enough glance at his tags.)** was his medical information. The mother raised her eyebrows.

"Wow. Navy officer," She said releasing his tags. Tom tucked them away and nodded.

"It's the only way I could get into college," Tom admitted. Then he started to feel a little guilty. He hasn't even shared this with Xam yet, but this random mother is worth telling his life story to? Bull spit.

"Cookie?" The toddler's plea reached Tom and snapped him from his brief thoughts. He held them out to the mother again and she smiled and took them. The mother handed them to the toddler who practically squealed with joy. Tom laughed at the little girl's excitement to get a cookie.

"Thank you..." The mother started. Tom held a hand out.

"Thomas Bones," Tom said, "Tom works though."

The mother took his hand and shook it, "Natalie Craws. And that is Mackenzie."

"Well, nice to meet you Mrs. Craws," Tom said. Natalie chuckled.

"Ms. Craws, I'm single," She said, "And you can call me Natalie."

"Oh, well, I'm not single," Tom said releasing Natalie's hand, "Crap, these were for my girlfriend. I gotta go. Hope to see you guys again!"

"Nice meeting you, too!" Natalie called after him as he ran back to the apartment.

Tom ran as fast as he could, barley avoiding close calls to impacts with other people and objects. When he did make it to his apartment he almost ran into the door. This time he did take the elevator up. He walked the rest of his way to his other room and unlocked the door. He looked around quickly and noticed Xam was asleep on the couch. He smiled and shook his head. He set the _**Chips Ahoy!**_ down on the desk and put his jacket on his chair.

Tom walked back to Xam, who had started to drool. He had to focus and not burst into laughter...which was very, very hard, considering his girlfriend was just drooling. Tom shook his head and started to nudge her shoulder.

"Xam. Xam. Xaa-aam," Tom sang, he got a groan in response.

_This is gonna be harder then I thought_, Tom thought to himself.

**Xam POV**

Ugh. Whoever decided nudging me to wake me up was a good idea was dead.

"Xaaa-aaam," the idiot nudging me said waking me up, "Come on get up."

That statement brought a distant memory back up to my mind. I was just created, they were training me to take Max's place. My instructor was kicking my ass, knocking me flat on my ass several times. Each time I fell, I was electrocuted. And then the instructor would nudge me with his foot and say, "Come on. Get up, you lazy scum!"

I brought my right fist straight ahead of me and connected. I opened my eyes to see the annoying person doubled over in pain. After blinking and getting a closer look, I realized I just whammed Tom in the balls.

"Oh God, Tom!" I said alarmed. I rushed to his prone form and put my hand on his back, "I'm so sorry!"

"Not as sorry as I am," Tom said, his voice cracking. He was stuck between laughing and cringing in pain. I was biting down on my lip to keep myself from laughing. It's not everyday you wham a man in the jewels. Specifically, your boyfriend.

"You try and wake a person up and this is the thanks you get," Tom mumbled. I carefully helped Tom stand back up and helped him move to the couch. He relaxed back into the couch and sighed.

"I even brought you cookies!" Tom let out in a weak smile. I felt a little worse over that. Tom raised a hand to point at the desk. I looked and saw a package of cookies. I looked back to Tom and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry about your balls," I said. Tom laughed, but then his face went serious. Uh oh.

"Xam," he said seriously, "we have to talk."

* * *

**AN: CLIFFY! I am the Cliffy master! All cliffys bow to me! Anyway, Kyla and Rose will be more involved in the next chapter.**

**Here's a shout out for TaylorSwiftTwilightFan75. She's a very good author and you guys should check her stories out! Or at least her Life's Meaning fic... I'm actually included in that one! ME! Can you believe it!? She's a friend and one of my loyalist reviewers. So just look her up. Do not Flame her. Got It? Good.**

**Keep on Keepin on**

**Tsparks158**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Hello peoples! How's it going? Yeah well nothing new here, so here we go!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Xam. I don't even own Kyla or Rose. I just own Tom, Abby, and Chelsea.**

* * *

**Xam POV**

"About what?" I asked playing dumb. I knew exactly what Tom wanted to talk about, but I was still afraid of his reaction. Tom sat up a little straighter, to show he has somewhat recovered.

"You know what," He said, "You."

"Me, what?" I asked again. I really didn't want to scare Tom away. I was afraid I would repulse him, or possibly make him afraid of me. Tom gave me a stern glare.

"_Xam_," He said, "We _have_ to talk about your past."

I shifted uncomfortably. Tom sighed, stood up, and walked around the couch to stand in front of me. I noticed he was limping a little. Ouch, guess I hit him pretty hard. Tom crouched down in front of me, so we were eye to eye.

"Xam," he said softly, "I just want to help. Let me in."

"I-I can't," I said looking away from him. I felt him put a hand on my face and turn my attention back to him. He gave me a soul piercing stare. I felt lost looking him in the eyes.

"It's okay," Tom said soothingly, "I won't run away screaming. I promise."

I smiled a little and Tom returned the gesture for a brief second, then he dropped back to a concerned gaze. I continued to look into his eyes. He wanted to help. I could tell from his posture. They were gazing into my own with a show of concern reflecting in their hazel color.

"Y-you promise?" I asked again, looking at him for any signs of lying. Tom nodded.

"Cross my heart and hope to die," he said, doing the action. I swallowed again before patting the spot next to me on the couch. I probably would feel more comfortable talking to him when he was sitting next to me, rather then him sitting in front of me like an interrogator. Tom moved back to the spot on the couch, a little closer then anticipated and wrapped an arm around me. I took a deep breath and started from my earliest memory.

As I told my story I occasionally glanced at Tom, he never once looked away. He just sat and listened as I explained why I do the things I do. I was so ashamed because I was made to exterminate a girl and her family, I decided to keep it locked away. I told him about my captivity in the Laboratory. After a failed termination in Germany, Itex's scientists shipped me to the Laboratory located somewhere in Ohio. By the end of the tale, I was in near tears.

"After I met you and Abby, I felt everything would change. But a cruel reality hit me. I'm a clone, a copy.......A fake. My life will never change," I said with a choked sob. Tom turned me towards him.

"Xam," he said softly, "Your life has changed. Like you said, you met Abby and I. We don't care that you have wings or that you were born in a lab. And all the stuff you have done in the past is in the past. I don't care that you hate Maximum for who she is and I don't care that you were created to kill them. I love you, Xam."

Tears started to fall from my eyes as he wrapped his arms around me. I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed. He kissed my head and then resumed hugging me. I cried onto his shoulder. Tom rubbed his hand over my 'sweet spot' between my wings, calming me. When I was completely calmed down I embraced the silence. And then I heard a large explosion. It shook the building.

"What in the Hell was that!?" Tom asked carefully standing up. I put a finger to my mouth and shushed him. I walked to the door and pushed my ear against it. I heard multiple footsteps running through the hall, and soft grunts. Then I heard doors bang open, multiple people screaming, gunshots, and......Growling? Uh-oh.

"Were those gunshots?" Tom asked quietly. I nodded. Tom walked over to his desk and opened the drawer, revealing a gun. I looked at the gun blankly and then at Tom. He gave me a look that said, 'I'll explain later.' I nodded and grabbed the door handle carefully, counting down with my right hand.

_5..._

_4..._

_3..._

_2..._

"1." Tom said aloud and I threw the door open. And surprise, surprise, a Flyboy was waiting on the other side of the door. It raised its fist at us, aiming it's mini-gun at Tom. I kicked the arm to the left before it began firing. Tom unloaded two rounds in the Flyboy's head. We moved down the hall towards Tom's apartment, with me on point. We had to turn just one more hallway.

"Vell, vell, vell. Vat a surprise," A familiar voice said. I looked up into Ter Borcht's eyes. I groaned, I remembered what a pain this asshole could be.

"Uh, Hello Ter Borcht," I said. He gave me a weird look and his eyes widened.

"Vell! This is a surprise! Instead of Maximum Ride, I get Maximum Ride II," He said, using my old name. Before I knew it, there was a gun in Borcht's face.

"Who the hell are you? And what do you want with my girlfriend?" Tom said, voice unwavering. Ter Borcht flinched at first notice of the weapon, but then relaxed.

"My name is Roland ter Borcht," Ter Borcht replied, "Vat do you mean by 'girlfriend'?"

Tom snickered, "Are you sure you're name isn't Ahnold?"

I had to bite my bottom lip to keep from laughing. Ter Borcht looked furious, that comment got to him. But that aside, he kept his outward appearance.

"Yes, I am sure my name isn't Arnold Schwarzenegger," Ter Borcht replied, "Vat is it vith you Americans and that joke?"

Tom was fighting not to laugh, I couldn't blame him. Whenever he gave me training assignments, I also had to bite down on my tongue to keep from making a snappy comeback. Ter Borcht was not amused.

"Now, you vill explain to me vat you meant by 'girlfriend'," Ter Borcht said. Tom scoffed.

"I don't have to explain anything to the world's fattest Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator," Tom said with a straight face. Ter Borcht's angry expression never changed.

Then, Ter Borcht smiled. It was always creepy whenever he did that, like he knew something no one else did. In this scenario, he _did_ know something we didn't. There were flyboys sneaking up behind us. They grabbed us from behind. One snapped Tom's wrist, making him drop the gun. Tom grunted, clenching his jaw to keep the pain from showing.

"Not so clever vithout your veapon, are you?" Ter Borcht said picking up the gun. I looked over at Tom worried for a split second, but he just kept his eyes on Ter Borcht. Ter Borcht walked to Tom and grabbed his dog tags. His eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Navy SEAL, eh?" Ter Borcht said, "And at your age? Astonishing."

"Give them back," Tom said, "I wasn't just given those, you know."

"Oh, I know. But my question is, how?" Ter Borcht asked, "How did you get into the SEALS at age 17? Vat aren't you telling me, boy?"

Tom spat on his face, causing the Flyboy on his right to twist his broken arm more. He winced and cried out softly in pain. The Fly boy twisted again, making him cry out louder.

"Stop!" I shouted at the Flyboy. Ter Borcht looked up from wiping his face off.

"Vat is this?" Ter Borcht asked me, "Vhy do you care if he feels pain? Surely you aren't really in a relationship vith this, _boy_."

I looked away from Ter Borcht, not willing to admit the truth. Ter Borcht began to laugh, my actions speaking for themselves.

"Vhy, I'll be dammed," Ter Borcht said, amazed, "You are!"

The Flyboy holding Tom spoke up, "Sir? Shouldn't we be going?"

Ter Borcht nodded, "Ve have vat ve came for. Bring ze SEAL. His abilities might be considered useful. And bring the others, too."

"Others!?" Tom and I spoke up. Sure enough, three more Flyboys walked out with Abby, Kyla, and Rose over their shoulders.

"What do you plan on using them for!? They have normal lives! Leave them alone!" I shouted at Ter Borcht. He simply shrugged and looked at me.

"Ve have a new experimentation process," Ter Borcht said, "I need new test subjects."

"Vhat you need is a new accent, aulgh," Tom said, coming close to mimicking Arnold again. Ter Borcht was not amused; he snapped his fingers and the Flyboy holding Tom pressed a needle into his neck. Tom's eyes rolled back and he passed out.

"Tom!" I cried, but I soon joined Tom in the darkness that was unconsciousness.

* * *

I awoke in a jail cell a few hours later. I looked around and saw Rose, Kyla, and Abby in different parts of the cell. I scanned the area for Tom, but there was no sign of him. I got worried, so I walked over to Abby and started to shake her awake.

"mm, please Taylor, don't stop," Abby moaned out. I didn't want to know.

"ABBY!" I called her name. Abby shot awake.

"Who? What? Ow, my head," she said, putting a hand to her head. I smiled, happy she was okay.

"Xam? Xam!" Abby said giving me a hug, "Are you okay? Where are we? Where is everybody else?"

"Abby, calm down," I said returning the friendly gesture, "In order: Yes, I'm fine; I think we're in a facility called The Laboratory; Rose and Kyla, if I remembered their names, are lying there and there. I haven't seen Tom."

"But Tom found you right?" Abby asked. I nodded.

"He was with me when we were taken," I said. Abby sighed.

"So...where are we, again?" Abby asked. I released a sigh.

"It's a long story," I said. Abby looked around.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Abby said determined, "So start talking."

"Maybe we should wake Rose and Kyla up first," I suggested. Abby nodded and we went to wake the two girls up.

"Mmm, Mr. Patterson, sparkle for me," Rose mumbled when Abby started to shake her. I stifled a giggle and started to wake Kyla up.

"Hmm, what?" Kyla mutter waking up. When she was fully awake, she responded the same way as Abby, and then Rose the same way as her. After explaining the situation to them and how I remember getting here, they wanted to hear my story as well. So I took a deep breath and told them. As I told them, I had a feeling that it would have been much easier if Tom was there, too. At the end of my story, Kyla enveloped me in a hug.

"That's so terrible!" She said after she backed off. I smiled grimly and nodded.

"Yeah, but I met Tom and Abby and my life has improved ten fold," I said. Abby giggled.

"I'll bet it's because of you and Tom's _activities_," she said snickering. I glared at her while Rose sat forward more.

"What kind of _activities_?" Rose asked, "The dirty kind? Ooo! I want details, Now!"

Before Abby could open her mouth, clanking and groaning came from down the hallway. We all stood and waited to see what was going on. Three Flyboys came in carrying someone. It was defiantly a person, and that person was defiantly a guy. His head was down and his torso was taped, they must have done something to him. Poor guy.

"Back away!" One of the Flyboy's ordered. We backed up and they carried the being in. They dropped him to the floor on his back, and I gasped when I got a look.

"Tom!" Abby said. The four of us rushed over to him. I checked his body for any injuries, and found none.

"I need to check his back," I said. Rose helped me flip him over onto his stomach carefully. I saw two lumps and instantly knew that Ter Borcht and other scientists did something. I carefully removed the tape.

"Why is Tom so light?" Kyla asked holding him up. I shrugged and continue to unwind the tape. But around the seventh or eighth layer, I saw something red. And it wasn't blood, but a feather.

"Oh no," I muttered. I resumed unwinding, and sure enough, taped together and staring us back in the face were two large red wings. They had to be very uncomfortable. I undid the tape that was keeping them compact and they unfurled, around 16 feet long, tip-to-tip. Abby and Rose gasped.

"What did they do?" Kyla asked me. I shook my head.

"I don't know, but it wasn't pleasant," I said running a hand over his face.

"Absolutely correct, Maximum," A certain fat Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator spoke up behind me. I turned to glare at Ter Borcht.

"What did you do?" I asked, glaring at him. Ter Borcht chuckled.

"Vhy are you mad? All ve did vus give him vings. Und seeing as you and he share a 'close' relationship, this should make you even closer," Ter Borcht said, "In fact, his body structure is exactly like yours, on the insides anyvay. He is now pervect for you. Hopefully you can breed pervect specimens, too. And if not, that is vhy I took these girls."

The others all glared at Ter Borcht as well. Obviously becoming breeding machines wasn't on their "Things I Wanna Be When I Grow Up" list. I heard a groan and turned my attention back to Tom. I knelt next to him again and placed a hand on his head.

"He's burning up!" I said, "you idiots might have killed him!"

"Impossible," Ter Borcht said, "Ve have had von other survivor of this procedure. Ve vould not have raided that building had they not killed themselves. But the past is the past."

And with that, Ter Borcht made his leave. I kept a glare on his back until he was out of sight. My attention returned to Tom when he groaned again.

"Ugh," Tom groaned, "My back is killing me."

"Gee, I wonder why," Rose muttered. Kyla stomped on her foot.

"OW!" Rose yelled and grabbed her foot. She glared at Kyla, "What was that for!?"

"Insensitivity," Kyla said.

"How do you feel, Tom?" I asked, putting a hand on his head. He smirked.

"Well, if having a aching back and a throbbing headache are considered normal, then you can mark me down as fine," Tom said, slowly getting to his feet. Abby chuckled.

"He's defiantly okay," Abby commented. I smiled. Tom tried to stand up straight but wobbled.

"What the hell?" He muttered. I sighed.

"Tom," I said getting his attention, "I need to show you something."

I reached up to touch his right wing and smoothed out a group of feathers. Tom froze.

"Why did I just feel you touch air?" He asked. He followed my arm up to his wing, and his breathing picked up. It was starting to go too fast, he would pass out from shock.

"Tom!" I said cupping his face, "Breathe. In and out. Slowly."

Tom focused on me and steadied his breathing. He closed his eyes.

"Tell me it's a dream," Tom said quietly, "Tell me I'm dreaming. Please, Xam."

My heart went out to him. This was a lot to wake up to. Waking up in a jail cell and discovering your body had been mutilated and messed with while you were out had to really freak you out. But he had to accept it sooner then later. If he didn't, the mental repercussions may be too much to handle. I pulled him into a hug.

"I can't, Tom. I wish I could, but I can't," I told him quietly. He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face into my neck, his body shaking with dry sobs. He wasn't crying, but doing all he could not to. I hugged him back and cried for him. After a few minutes we broke apart and Tom was quiet.

"You okay, Tom?" Kyla asked. Tom gave a weak smile.

"Yeah, I'm-I'm okay," He said. He took a deep breathe and then he looked at me.

"I should probably learn how to control these bad boys, huh?" He said, smiling now. I smiled and nodded.

I spent the next few days teaching Tom how to control his wings, seeing as he wasn't born with them at birth like me. Tom was a fast learner, as I soon discovered. He could hover above the ground on the seventh day of learning. Unfortunately, his seventh day was also the day they took Rose away.

When Rose returned, she had midnight black wings. Tom and I took turns teaching her how to use them. Abby and Kyla watched on as we taught her. They knew that eventually it would be their turn. Their turn for their lives to be ruined. I regret ever meeting them.

On the third week of being locked up, we were surprised when instead of just taking one of the girls, they took both. They also moved Rose to a separate Cell. We fought back for a good ten minutes, but they eventually tranquilized us. I woke up on top of Tom. And before you even go there, we were dressed.

Tom groaned underneath me. I got up off him and he sat up.

"So...what hit us?" Tom asked. I shrugged.

"Some type of tranquilizer," I said. Tom nodded and went into the push up prone position. That's what each of us did when we were bored, Tom started and when we asked him what he was doing, he replied with killing my boredom. I sat back and resumed thinking about how I quite possibly ruined Tom's life.

Scratch that, I _did_ ruin Tom's life.

_Why did I have to run into him? He doesn't deserve this, and I don't deserve him,_ I thought to myself.

"Xam?" Tom's voice said, startling me from my thoughts, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," I lied. Tom rolled his eyes and knelt down in front of me.

"Xam," he persisted. I sighed.

"No," I answered truthfully, "Something's been bugging me, and I can't get it off my mind."

"Well, tell me about it," Tom said, sitting next to me and wrapping an arm around me. I rested my head on his shoulder.

"I just feel.......terrible," I confessed, "I feel like it's my fault for getting you into this life. Making you a freak like me. It's my fault. And I wrecked, Rose, Kyla, and Abby's lives too. How can I live with myself? This is my entire fault. I should have just accepted my termination when I had the chance."

Tom turned me to look at him again. He was mad. And I had a gut feeling as to why......Because I was right. Because it was my fault.

"Don't _ever_ think that, Xam!" He said to me, "Did you know that you were going to get locked up in here again? No! Did you know they were going to take us too? No! Did you know that they were going to experiment on me? No! This is not your fault. Don't ever let me hear you say that again, am I clear?"

I nodded and he crushed me in a hug, "I couldn't stand to be without you Xam. Don't ever wish you were dead again. Trust me, it isn't a fun road to go down."

I hugged him back and thanked whatever god was out there for sending me into his arms. I stayed in his arms until I fell asleep.

**Third Person POV**

Tom sat where he was, still cradling Xam in his arms. He couldn't believe she thought that way. It wasn't her fault, and he knew it.

_It's that damn Ter Borcht guy_, Tom thought, _It's his fault I'm here in the first place. When we get out, if we get out, I'm going to find him and make him pay._

Tom heard clanging and a struggled cry for help come from the hallway. As much as he didn't want to, he knew he would have to check it out. He maneuvered Xam from his arms into a much more comfortable spot on the floor. He stood up and went to the bars, resting his arms across them.

"Let me go!!" A child cried. He craned his neck to see two Flyboys dragging a girl by the arms. She couldn't be older then nine or ten. She had freckles and blonde hair. She was dressed in jeans and an old raggy orange hoodie sweatshirt.

Tom narrowed his eyes at the Flyboys. If there was anything he hated most, it was children being abused. It was just sick and there was a Cleveland Code that went through the population: Child abusers and Child molesters get no mercy. None, not even cops hold back.

"Let her go!" He hollered at the Flyboys from his Cell. Rose stepped up to her cage bars on his right.

"Let her go you bastards!" Rose cried out with Tom. Tom and Rose weren't best buddies, if anything they were frienemies. They constantly picked jokes on each other, but got along well to a point. They may not agree on much, but Rose and Tom both despised anyone who treated a child poorly.

The Flyboys ignored their calls and continued to drag the child to Tom and Xam's cell. One aimed his built in mini-gun at Tom, who backed away with narrowed eyes. The other opened the cell door and shoved her in, making her collide with Tom's legs, he kept her steady as she wobbled from the collision. The Flyboys shut the cage and then left.

Tom walked back up to the cell bars and followed the Flyboys with his eyes. His eyesight had been enhanced, so he could follow them further then if he wasn't mutated. He turned around to look at the little girl. She was holding her left arm in pain.

"Are you okay?" Tom asked as he walked forward. She looked up at him with fear in her eyes.

"N-no," She said, "Th-they hurt my arms."

Tom knelt down and took a look before she pulled away. Tom sighed.

"Listen, I can help. But only if you let me," Tom said. The girl looked for signs of lying, and apparently having found none, held her arm out to him. Tom took her arm and looked it over carefully.

"Hmm," Tom said.

"Does this hurt?" He asked, pressing on a spot on her upper arm. She whimpered and nodded.

"Okay. Are you wearing something under your hoodie?" He asked. The girl nodded, "I need you to take your hoodie off then."

"I can't," She said, "I'm-I'm different."

Tom gave her a lopsided smile and spread his Cardinal red wings. She looked at them in awe before looking back at him.

"I'm not exactly Mr. Normal either," He said causing her to giggle. She took her hoodie off carefully, with help from Tom, and spread her own set of brown wings.

Tom let a whistle out, "Those are some purty wings there ma'am. How long have you had them, Ms....?"

"My name is Bailey," She said with a smile, "I've had them since I was born."

Tom was looking over her arm as she told him this. It was bruised but not broken, and it was going to be sore for a few days. Tom raised his eyes back to hers.

"So how old are you? Nine? Ten?" he asked. She giggled.

"No! I'm seven!" Tom's jaw dropped.

"Yo-you're _seven_!?" he asked. Bailey gave him a smile and nodded. Tom leaned back.

"Well. I feel like the fool," Tom said and then he smiled, "My name is Tom, and I'm 21-years-old."

"Are we alone?" Bailey asked. Tom shook his head.

"No, in the cell next to us is Rose. She's almost as tall as me and has black hair, black wings, and red eyes," Tom said and then he pointed at Xam, "And that's Xam. But she's been through a lot, so I would like to let her rest."

"Why do you want her to rest?" Bailey asked innocently, "Do you care about her?"

Tom chuckled and sat down in front of Bailey.

"Well, yes. I care for her a lot because," Tom looked around, like he was afraid anyone might hear him, "wanna know a secret?"

Bailey nodded eagerly and Tom continued in a whisper, "I love her."

"Really?" Bailey asked. Tom smiled and gave a firm nod.

"Why do you love her?"

Tom leant back and thought about it. Why did he love Xam? He never actually brooded about it, he just knew he loved her. It wasn't the intercourse. It's not like he can give that answer to a seven year old anyway. Talk about scarring. Was it her attitude? Her looks? Her personality? He didn't know. So he gave a shrug in response.

"I don't know," Tom said, "Maybe it's her hair or the way she looks at me, but all I know is I love her. And quite frankly, that's all that matters in the end."

"Wow. That's deep, Tom. I think I understand the male mind better," Rose commented from her cell. Tom blushed. He forgot Rose was there.

"Shut up, Rose," Tom muttered. Rose and Bailey laughed.

"Oh, so you're taking her side? Shows where the loyalty lies," Tom said to Bailey, "I help you with your arm, and this is the thanks I get? Harumph."

Bailey giggled, "You're weird, Tom."

Tom smiled and leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, but I'm proud of it," He said. Tom moved back next to Xam and repositioned himself next to her so they both could sleep comfortably. Tom shut his eyes after placing Xam's head back against his shoulder.

He felt something move against him on his right and opened his eyes to see Bailey sitting next to him. Tom guided her to a more comfortable position to lie against him. Bailey released a yawn and soon fell asleep. Tom yawned five minutes afterwards and drifted to sleep, his arms protecting the girls on either side of him.

* * *

**AN: There. New chapter will be up soon. Be sure to check out my poll now that AiD has ended. I really should find something to work on. Bailey belongs to Maxy1998, and I only have her rights being loaned to me.**

**Keep on Keepin on**

**Tsparks158**


	9. Chapter 9 PREVEIW!

**AN: Well. Here we are again. Let's get on with it, shall we?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Xam. I don't own Rose, Chase, Kyla, or Bailey. I do however own the rights to Tom, Abby, and Devon.**

* * *

**Xam POV**

My pillow was firm, but comfortable. I was warm due to the blanket covering me. All was right.

Until I remembered that Ter Borcht had brought us back to the Laboratory and I shouldn't have a pillow or blanket because I was in a jail cell. I stood up from my spot on Tom's chest and stretched. Tom snorted and shifted his wings for a second in his sleep, but then relaxed and let his wings fall limp again. I smiled at his sleeping form until I noticed the smaller form on his left. A young girl, perhaps 10, was resting on Tom just as I had been. She was wearing a dirty orange sweater and jeans. Unlike the rest of us, she wasn't wearing shoes.

Her eyes snapped open when the sound of clanking Flyboys returned. She started to tug on Tom's arm.

"Wake up, wake up," She said frightened. Tom opened his eyes and blinked them, regaining his whereabouts. He stretched and yawned.

"Hmm, what's wrong, Bailey?" Tom asked mid yawn. _So, Her name is Bailey,_ I thought. They must have brought her in sometime while I was sleeping.

"They're back!" She whispered/exclaimed. Tom stood up and looked at me.

"Hey," He said softly to me, walking past me to the cage bars. I nodded and joined him in leaning against the bars. I saw the Flyboys dragging two beings back. One was a guy. He had brown hair that was short and spiked and he had a slim build. He was dressed in jeans and a blue T-shirt, which had been cut in the back so that his wings were hanging out. His wings were brown with black tips. The other form they were carrying was a girl.

_Kyla_, I thought, recognizing her dusty blonde hair and her John Lennon shirt. Her shirt had been cut up the back so her wings would be out. Her wings may have been black at first glance...but they were actually purple! Who gives someone purple wings!? I glanced at Tom and he was chuckling. He looked at me and smiled.

"Kyla's favorite color," Tom said quietly. I let out a "oh" in response. We looked back at the Flyboys to see them walk past our cell to Rose's. We couldn't see Rose, but she sounded pissed.

"YOU MOTHER FU-!" She started but Tom cut her off.

"ROSE!" Tom shouted, "Just let them get Kyla in!"

We heard clanking and glared at the Flyboys as they walked past, empty handed. Rose's concerned whispers barely made it to our ears. We walked back to wall that connected to Rose's and Kyla's cell. Bailey sat on Tom's left, while I sat on his right. Tom started to chip away at some loose cement in the wall.

"What are you doing?" I asked. Tom gave me a look.

"What does it look like?" Tom replied, "I'm going to make a window."

After about ten minutes Tom had enough chipped away so we could remove the large 9x9 8 inch thick brick. It took both of us, but we got it out without to much trouble. Bailey looked in the hole and looked at the occupants.

"They don't look good, Tom," she commented. Tom tapped on her shoulder to move her aside.

"They're okay," Tom said, "I don't think that they're that hurt. More or less exhausted."

"Oh Gee, Ya think!?" Rose snapped sarcastically. Tom backed off.

"What's her problem?" I asked Tom. Tom looked at me and smiled.

"Nothing," He said, "She just looks out for Kyla. They're best friends, actually they're much closer to being sisters then friends. But Rose is just worried. That's all."

"Okay," I said before hearing more clanking. That must be Abby.

Tom and I returned to our spot on the cell bars. Tom had both his arms above his head and was leaning on them. I was simply holding the bars and straining to see Abby's unconscious form. But like before they brought two bodies back instead of one. And like before, one was a guy. Unlike the last guy, this one was more built like Tom. He was dark skinned and his hair was shaved off. He looked up once groggily and saw Tom.

"Tom?" He questioned. Tom squinted and then his eyes widened.

"Devon!" Tom said, "What are you doing here!? I thought you were in Chicago!"

"I was," Devon said as the Flyboys threw him and Abby's unconscious form into the cell across from us. Devon checked Abby and then walked to his bars.

"So," Devon started, "How long you been here?"

"About a month," Tom answered. Devon nodded.

"About a week longer then you, for me," he said, "On my second week, I was given the joy of these."

He spread two dark brown wings of his own. Tan feathers were scattered around his wings. Devon's right arm, I noticed, had a cast.

"How long you have that?" I asked. Devon noticed me for the first time. He looked to his arm and then back to me.

"That's none of your concern, Ma'am," He said with a flat face. Tom put a hand over his face.

"D, this is my girlfriend," Tom said, "Xam. Xam, meet Devon Albert. Devon served with me in boot. Bailey, come here."

Bailey slowly walked over to Tom and he put a hand on her shoulder. Tom introduced them to each other. We stopped talking when we heard a groan. Devon checked behind him and then shook his head no.

"Kyla then," Tom muttered. He walked back to where the hole he made was at and peered into it. He looked and then said, "Okay...so it wasn't Kyla."

"Who said that!?" A young man's voice said. Tom shook his head.

"Rose, will you please point out the hole that is right behind him?" Tom asked. Bailey covered her mouth and giggled.

Tom backed away when a young man's face appeared in the hole. He had green eyes and had freckles covering his face. He looked no older then 17, when in actuality he might have been my age...you know what I mean, 19.

"Who are you?" he asked. Tom sighed and repeated the introductory process. It turns out his name was Chase Andrews and he lived on the floor below Tom and Abby. He was a college grad who just moved out. When the introductions were finished, Tom went back to having a conversation with Devon. I followed him and decided to talk more as we awaited Abby and Kyla to wake up.

"We need to get out of here," Tom said to Devon. Devon nodded.

"I can break out," Devon said, "If I can get the springs from a bed."

"Then DO IT!" Tom and I shouted. Devon winced. He went back to his bed in the cell that was holding him and started to tear it. He ripped two springs out and fiddled with them. We walked up to the cell door and worked on the lock. He eventually cracked it and the door slowly creaked open. Devon walked out and began working on our cell.

As soon as it was open, I helped him with Rose's Cell. Tom went over to Abby and picked her up. He carried her over to Devon and dumped her in his arms when we opened Rose's cell. Devon gave him a "what?" look and Tom returned it with a "Do it or else," look. Rose stayed close to Chase, who was carrying Kyla's unconscious form, as I led everyone down the hall to the Exit door.

* * *

**AN: and there is the prievew.... the whole thing will be up tomorrow.**


	10. Chapter 9

**AN: Yesterday I gave you the preview. Well, today you get the whole damn thing!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Xam. I don't own Rose, Chase, Kyla, or Bailey. I do however own the rights to Tom, Abby, and Devon.**

* * *

**Xam POV**

My pillow was firm, but comfortable. I was warm due to the blanket covering me. All was right.

Until I remembered that Ter Borcht had brought us back to the Laboratory and I shouldn't have a pillow or blanket because I was in a jail cell. I stood up from my spot on Tom's chest and stretched. Tom snorted and shifted his wings for a second in his sleep, but then relaxed and let his wings fall limp again. I smiled at his sleeping form until I noticed the smaller form on his left. A young girl, perhaps 10, was resting on Tom just as I had been. She was wearing a dirty orange sweater and jeans. Unlike the rest of us, she wasn't wearing shoes.

Her eyes snapped open when the sound of clanking Flyboys returned. She started to tug on Tom's arm.

"Wake up, wake up," She said frightened. Tom opened his eyes and blinked them, regaining his whereabouts. He stretched and yawned.

"Hmm, what's wrong, Bailey?" Tom asked mid yawn. _So, Her name is Bailey,_ I thought. They must have brought her in sometime while I was sleeping.

"They're back!" She whispered/exclaimed. Tom stood up and looked at me.

"Hey," He said softly to me, walking past me to the cage bars. I nodded and joined him in leaning against the bars. I saw the Flyboys dragging two beings back. One was a guy. He had brown hair that was short and spiked and he had a slim build. He was dressed in jeans and a blue T-shirt, which had been cut in the back so that his wings were hanging out. His wings were brown with black tips. The other form they were carrying was a girl.

_Kyla_, I thought, recognizing her dusty blonde hair and her John Lennon shirt. Her shirt had been cut up the back so her wings would be out. Her wings may have been black at first glance...but they were actually purple! Who gives someone purple wings!? I glanced at Tom and he was chuckling. He looked at me and smiled.

"Kyla's favorite color," Tom said quietly. I let out a "oh" in response. We looked back at the Flyboys to see them walk past our cell to Rose's. We couldn't see Rose, but she sounded pissed.

"YOU MOTHER FU-!" She started but Tom cut her off.

"ROSE!" Tom shouted, "Just let them get Kyla in!"

We heard clanking and glared at the Flyboys as they walked past, empty handed. Rose's concerned whispers barely made it to our ears. We walked back to wall that connected to Rose's and Kyla's cell. Bailey sat on Tom's left, while I sat on his right. Tom started to chip away at some loose cement in the wall.

"What are you doing?" I asked. Tom gave me a look.

"What does it look like?" Tom replied, "I'm going to make a window."

After about ten minutes Tom had enough chipped away so we could remove the large 9x9 8 inch thick brick. It took both of us, but we got it out without to much trouble. Bailey looked in the hole and looked at the occupants.

"They don't look good, Tom," she commented. Tom tapped on her shoulder to move her aside.

"They're okay," Tom said, "I don't think that they're that hurt. More or less exhausted."

"Oh Gee, Ya think!?" Rose snapped sarcastically. Tom backed off. I was surprised by Rose's actions. She didn't seem like the short tempered type, but then again, Tom didn't seem like the Navy SEAL type.

"What's her problem?" I asked Tom. Tom looked at me and smiled.

"Nothing," He said, "She just looks out for Kyla. They're best friends, actually they're much closer to being sisters then friends. But Rose is just worried. That's all."

"Okay," I said before hearing more clanking. That must be Abby.

Tom and I returned to our spot on the cell bars. Tom had both his arms above his head and was leaning on them. I was simply holding the bars and straining to see Abby's unconscious form. But like before they brought two bodies back instead of one. And like before, one was a guy. Unlike the last guy, this one was more built like Tom. He was dark skinned and his hair was shaved off. He looked up once groggily and saw Tom.

"Tom?" He questioned. Tom squinted and then his eyes widened.

"Devon!" Tom said, "What are you doing here!? I thought you were in Chicago!"

"I was," Devon said as the Flyboys threw him and Abby's unconscious form into the cell across from us. Devon checked Abby and then walked to his bars.

"So," Devon started, "How long you been here?"

"About a month," Tom answered. Devon nodded.

"About a week longer then you, for me," he said, "On my second week, I was given the joy of these."

He spread two dark brown wings of his own. Tan feathers were scattered around his wings. Devon's right arm, I noticed, had a cast.

"How long you have that?" I asked. Devon noticed me for the first time. He looked to his arm and then back to me.

"That's none of your concern, Ma'am," He said with a flat face. I glared at him and Tom put a hand over his face.

"Demo, this is my girlfriend," Tom said, moving his hand to gesture to me, "Xam. Xam, meet Devon "The Demolition" Albert. Devon served with me in boot, he was an demolitions trainee. Bailey, come here."

Bailey slowly walked over to Tom and he put a hand on her shoulder. Tom introduced them to each other. We stopped talking when we heard a groan. Devon checked behind him and then shook his head no.

"Kyla then," Tom muttered. He walked back to where the hole he made was at and peered into it. He looked and then said, "Okay...so it wasn't Kyla."

"Who said that!?" A young man's voice said. Tom shook his head.

"Rose, will you please point out the hole that is right behind him?" Tom asked. Bailey covered her mouth and giggled.

Tom backed away when a young man's face appeared in the hole. He had green eyes and had freckles covering his face. He looked no older then 17, when in actuality he might have been my age...you know what I mean, 19.

"Who are you?" he asked. Tom sighed and repeated the introductory process. It turns out his name was Chase Andrews and he lived on the floor below Tom and Abby. He was a college grad who just moved in when he was taken with us. Apparently, Ter Borcht lied to us, _shocking_. Not. When the introductions were finished, Tom went back to having a conversation with Devon. I followed him and decided to talk more as we awaited Abby and Kyla to wake up.

"We need to get out of here," Tom said to Devon. Devon nodded.

"I can break out," Devon said, "If I can get the springs from a bed."

"Then DO IT!" Tom and I shouted. Devon winced at our tone. He went back to his bed in the cell that was holding him and started to tear it. He ripped two springs out and fiddled with them. We walked up to the cell door and worked on the lock. He eventually cracked it and the door slowly creaked open. Devon walked out and began working on our cell.

As soon as it was open, I helped him with Rose's Cell. Tom went over to Abby and picked her up. He carried her over to Devon and dumped her in his arms when we opened Rose's cell. Devon gave him a "what?" look and Tom returned it with a "Do it or else," look. Rose stayed close to Chase, who was carrying Kyla's unconscious form, as I led everyone down the hall to the Exit door.

Tom stayed in the back with Bailey. Whether it was to keep her safe or to cover us, I don't know. I walked through the doorway that led from the holding cells to a security room.

"Why are we here?" Chase asked, "Shouldn't we escape?"

"That's why we're here moron," Devon said, "We obviously need to stack up on supplies before we leave, Right?"

"Actually, I just guessed," I answered honestly. Both of them gave me blank looks. I heard Tom sigh.

"Demo brings up a good point, Xam," He said, "We should grab some supplies and see if we can't find anything before they notice we're gone."

I nodded and Tom and Devon went to work grabbing things. Tom grabbed a few duffle bags and started to place supplies in them. Devon put Abby's unconscious form in a chair and grabbed two duffle bags for himself. Chase set Kyla in her own chair and went over to Devon to see if he could help. They began talking themselves, trying to get to know one another better. Rose stayed close to Kyla and Abby, trying to wake them quietly.

Bailey stayed close to Tom the whole time, occasionally asking what certain things were and what they did. I was thankful her childish innocence wasn't corrupted to badly. Tom was patient and smiling whenever she asked him a question, which was every fifteen seconds. Watching them interact proved Tom's description of himself to me.

"_**I play the protective part to a lot of people I know. I'm a Big Brother to a lot of people.**_" He had said. Looking back on the incident with Chelsea...OH MY GOD! What ever happened to Chelsea?

"Tom!" I said getting his attention, "What do you think happened to Chelsea!?"

Tom's head snapped up and his eyes widened, "Shit. I nearly forgot about her. Rose!"

Rose turned her head at her name's mention, "What!? I'm a litt-"

"What happened to Chelsea!?" Tom and I asked her simultaneously. Rose's eyes also widened.

"Oh god! How did we forget about her!? Do you think she's okay!?" Rose asked us. Tom covered his face with one hand, two fingers on his temple, making his palm cover his face. He shut his eyes and thought.

"They didn't take her," He said opening his eyes and looking back at us, "Rose. Think back. What is the last thing you remember before they burst in?"

Rose held her head, "Um...We were all watching Grey's Anatomy, Chelsea's choice, and then...Chelsea went to the bathroom...Then the stupid Flyboy things crashed in through the windows right after."

"You're sure?" I asked. Rose nodded. Then Kyla and Abby started waking up.

"Hmm? Wha's goin' on?" Abby asked. Kyla yawned and opened her eyes even more. She looked around at all of us, pausing on Chase for a miniscule second. She looked back at Rose.

"Rose? What happened? Who're they?" Kyla asked looking at Devon and Chase. Rose explained everything to both of them. Kyla blushed when she was told Chase carried her into this room. Tom finished packing up and introduced Bailey to Abby and Kyla. Abby started talking to Bailey and Tom grabbed his duffle bags and walked over to me.

"I smell romance," He said hushed and cheekily. I gave him a questionable look. He rolled his eyes. He put two duffle bags down and swung a third over his shoulder.

"You saw how Kyla reacted to Chase being the one that carried her," Tom said quietly, "I may be slow, but I'm not _that_ slow. I've lived through two older sisters and having a girl for a roommate, you gotta give me props for picking up on certain things."

I chuckled and he gave me a smile. Devon finished his packing and swung a duffle bag over his shoulder.

"I'm all set," He said, "Chase, wanna carry this for me?"

"Sure," Chase replied, taking one of the duffle bags. Tom handed a duffle bag to me and Rose, seeing as we were also among the few who were conscious and able to carry them. Rose's eyebrows rose when she swung the duffle bag over her shoulder easily.

"Are these that light, or am I stronger?" She asked. Tom shrugged.

"They're fully packed with food, ammo, or essentials," he said, with a smirk, "You must have gotten the barley full one."

Rose stuck her tongue out at him and he smirked. He looked at Abby and Kyla.

"You two think you'll be able to fly? Or will our volunteer Prince Charmings have to carry you again?" Tom asked them. Abby stuck her tongue out and Kyla simply blushed. I glanced at Devon and Chase. Devon was glaring at Tom, while Chase was blushing like Kyla.

...I'm starting to think Tom knows what he's talking about when he said he smelled romance. Tom pulled a handgun from a drawer and tossed another to Devon. Devon caught it and checked the clip.

"Let's go," I said. Abby held Bailey's hand and followed me out. We opened the door and then alarms started blaring. We all started to pick up the pace.

"This is horseshit!" Devon grumbled as he began running. Abby held onto Bailey's hand tighter, so Bailey wouldn't fall behind. Tom was on my left, checking his side for possible threats. Whenever he would spot someone in white he would fire twice, and Devon would fire two more times when he passed. After passing hallway after hallway, I saw a door that was marked EXIT.

"Wings out!" Tom shouted behind us. Tom, Chase, Devon, Kyla, and Rose unfurled their wings. Abby picked Bailey up and then spread her wings. Abby's wings were a dark ocean blue. Really? Tom's are red, Kyla's purple, Rose's Black with red tips, and Abby's are Dark BLUE!?

Did Itex decide tropical birds are the next best thing or something?

Tom and I shoved the doors open and let the others pass us. After they shot past us in the sky, Tom and I followed. Once in the air, Abby let Bailey open her wings and fly. Little Bailey was quite talented at flying, if I must say so myself.

"So...Where to now!?" Devon shouted up to us. Tom looked at me and I shrugged. What? I'm no leader. I was just cloned from one.

"We're going back to the apartment," Tom decided, "That way we can see if Chelsea made it out okay."

We all nodded our agreement. Tom pulled something from his bag.

"What's that?" Devon asked. Tom held it up.

"A compass stupid," Tom said, and then he looked at me, "why is it we can talk to each other normally while we're flying?"

"I guess Ter Borcht wasn't kidding," I said back to him, "I'll explain the schematics of being a bird-kid while we fly to Cleveland, ok?"

Everyone nodded again. As I explained the inner compass thing, Tom subtly put the compass back. I snickered a little and continued my explanation of how they've changed internally. Bailey didn't know any of this, even though she was born like The Flock and not "given the gift" (as Tom and Devon put it), so she listened and asked the occasional question. When the question of how I knew it came up, I almost stopped flapping. Almost. Thank god for Tom.

"It's complicated," Tom answered for me, "She doesn't have to explain herself to anyone yet. Understood?"

"Sir, yes, Sir," Devon mumbled. Tom shot a glare his way.

"Last I checked, Demo, I _do_ outrank you," Tom said. Devon grimaced and then started laughing.

"You haven't changed at all," Devon said. Abby looked at Tom.

"You're saying _this_ is The Demolition!?" She asked incrediously. Devon looked at Tom.

"You been talkin' bout me behind my back, T-Bro?" Devon asked. Tom rolled his eyes and sent me a look that said 'do you see what I do for you?' I giggled softly and continued to fly.

We arrived in Cleveland at dusk. Tom led us back to the apartment in the air. Bailey occasionally asked what things were and pointed them out, which the Clevelanders (Tom and Abby were homegrown; Rose, Kyla, and Chase all were from different areas) were more then happy to point out. When we made it to the apartment, Abby, Rose, Chase, Kyla, Tom, and I gasped or paled.

The Apartment was partially destroyed...

* * *

**AN: again, another cliffy. I am the CLIFFY KING! MWAHAHAHAHA!!**

**Keep on Keepin on**

**Tsparks158**


	11. Chapter 10

**AN: First and foremost: HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!! Hopefully as you are reading this, you are wearing green. And if not.......... *Pinch* Hahahahaha. Sorry, I just ate sugar. Sugar rush bad, but writing new chapter, Good.**

**Disclaimer: I have no rights over Xam. And I am only borrowing Rose, Kyla, and Chase from Ms. Ador and Rose; Bailey from Maxy1998; and the newest character Krissy from TalyorSwiftTwilightFan75. I guess the only things I do own are Tom, Abby, Devon and this plotline. Man, I need better lawyers...**

* * *

**Xam POV**

Tom, Abby, Rose, Kyla, Chase and I were at a loss for words. The once complete apartment looked like it was smashed by a hand of God. There was debris crumbling off at certain angles. There was walls caved in and collapsed doors underneath them. I was the first to move closer to the hazardous wreckage we used to call a home. I landed inside where a nice living room, I guessed from the wreckage, used to be. I gestured to everyone to follow me. Tom landed behind me and folded his wings up, followed by Devon, then Rose, and so on. Tom walked past me and to where a door used to be and looked around.

"This is our hallway, over here," He said pointing to the left, "Wanna go check the damage, Abs?"

Abby nodded, "Let's go see what we can find."

Abby and Tom took point, Bailey and I right behind them and everyone else behind us. Tom went to the door and then made a 'be quiet' gesture with his hand. I heard shuffling behind the door. Tom looked at Devon and made some hand gesture I recognized from my own training as 'Back me up, I'm on point.'

Devon nodded and took his duffle bag off, handing it to Abby. Tom did the same and handed me his. Devon took his spot next to Tom and then nodded. They both kicked the door down with their right feet. Tom entered first and checked corners, Devon following and checking his own. The rest of us watched until they had disappeared into the back of the apartment and we couldn't see anymore.

"Xam?" Bailey squeaked out. I looked down to her.

"What Bailey?" I asked softly. She looked up at me, fear in her eyes.

"I'm scared," She whispered. I knelt down and hugged her. Wow, I didn't know I had it in me.

"It's okay Bail-" I was cut off by Devon's cry of pain and the sound of wood snapping.

"FUCK!!!" Devon cried. A blur of light brown, possibly dark tan moved into the living room. Tom skidded out from the back and kept his aim straight. He fired twice and hit the blur in the shoulder.

"OWWWW!!!" the figure screamed. From the sound of its voice, the figure was a girl. Tom walked closer and held his gun to her face for a millisecond. Then he knelt down and grabbed her chin.

"Who are you?" he asked. The girl glared at him. Tom looked at me and gestured for us to come in. I looked the girl over as Bailey and I got closer. She had wings, but they were light brown and had black and white speckles on them, reminding me of a type of deer. Her skin was also a lighter brown, possibly a dark tan as I said before, and her body was an average build, like a young teen. She had black hair but light brown at the tips. When she saw me walk around and behind Tom, her blue eyes widened. Tom snapped his fingers in her face, getting her attention.

"Please, focus," Tom said, "What. Is. Your. Name?"

She glared at Tom again. He threw his arms up and released a groan. He looked at Chase and Kyla, who were looking at the blood forming on the girl's shoulder. Tom followed their gaze and realized he hit her.

"Shit," He muttered and knelt back down, he reached for her arm, but she recoiled and continued to glare at him. Tom noticed this and gave her a look of annoyance.

"Listen, I'm sorry for shooting you," he said, "but if you want it out, I _have_ to be able to touch your arm."

"Hmm, how about I do this myself, and you can go screw off," The girl replied. Tom smiled halfway at her, I have no idea why. I was mad as hell at this girl. Tom was trying to make up for shooting her by helping, why not let him? And then replying to him with sarcasm? Not funny. Not funny at all.

"Listen you un–" I started to say, but Tom cut me off.

"Okay, but if you need help getting it out, I'll be helping my friend put his leg back together," Tom said with a grin. The girl returned it with a grim smile of her own. Tom stood up and looked at Chase, Kyla, Abby, and Rose.

"Watch her," Tom said, "Wounded or not, she doesn't leave. I want answers, mostly who she is and why she's here. If you can get that, I'll be impressed."

"Right," Chase said. Tom nodded and then went back towards his and Abby's room's hallway. Abby walked closer to the girl, who was staying where Tom left her.

"Hi! I'm Abby," Abby said introducing herself, "Can you tell me your name?"

"Yeah! It's Goe Screwurself," The girl replied. Abby's jaw dropped. Rose started to snicker to herself. The girl turned her head towards her.

"What are you laughing at, Big Red?" She asked. Rose's face turned into a grimace.

"What did you call me?" She asked, starting to stalk over to us. Kyla and Chase stood in her way, trying to hold her back. I sighed and covered a hand with my eyes. I felt something tug on my arm, and I looked down to Bailey.

"What Bailey?" I asked quietly.

"Where's the bathroom?" She asked in the same tone. I pointed in the direction that Tom went. Bailey smiled and ran that way. I sighed again and knelt in front of our mystery wounded girl.

"Oh what, are you gonna try that nice & sweet suck up BS, too?" She asked me. I frowned.

"No, but if you continue to talk to my friends that way, I have no problem kicking your ass across the room," I told her dead serious, and she looked scared. Like when she first saw me walk behind Tom.

"S-seriously?" She asked with a slight stutter. I nodded slowly and cracked my knuckles to emphasize my point. She gave me a frightened look.

"So, y-you're Max II?" She asked. I recoiled with shock. I shook my head after recovering.

"Not anymore," I answered, "I go by Xam now, and that guy that shot you is Tom."

"So? What's you're point? He your husband or something?" She asked. I froze temporarily again. A lump I've never felt before formed in my throat. I cleared my throat and looked at her again before speaking.

"Yeah, he's my boyfriend," I said, "And I don't take to kindly to you talking to him that way. All he wanted to do was help."

"Phht. If that's all he wanted then he and his boneheaded friend wouldn't have kicked my bedroom door open and off its hinges," She said in an annoyed tone, "That _and_ he shouldn't have shot me in the first place."

"Honestly, his shooting you doesn't bother me," I said, "The fact that he offered to make it right and you blew him off does. So now I'm going to ask you something he asked you twice. What is your name?"

"Krissy," She answered. I was surprised. I was sure I would have had to resort to threatening her life to get her name.

"Krissy?" I asked and she nodded. I opened my mouth to ask more, but Bailey's scream cut me off. I stood up and looked at Chase, Rose, Abby, and Kyla. The four of them were sitting at the half destroyed island table, where Tom and I ate not a month ago on the day this all started.

"Guys," I said getting their attention, "Watch her. Abby, come with me."

Abby nodded and followed me into the hallway, which was partially destroyed. Tom emerged from Abby's doorway.

"I heard a scream," He said. I peered past him to see Devon finishing a wrapping on his leg, and then looking back at Tom. Abby walked past him to help Devon stand up.

"You did," I said, "Did Bailey say anything to you on her way to the bathroom?"

"Yeah," Tom said walking towards the bathroom, "She asked if Devon was okay, and I said he was. Just a small sprain on his knee. Whoever that girl is, she sure knows how to use a wooden bat."

I winced and we continued to the bathroom, where we found the door closed. Tom knocked on it.

"Bailey?" He asked. When he got no answer, we both pressed our ears to the door. I could hear soft cries from the other side. Tom started to tug on the handle, but it was stuck. He backed up and pointed his gun at the hinges.

"Bailey, Cover your ears," Tom warned. He fired twice at the hinges and grabbed the door with both hands after holstering the gun. He pulled it out of the doorway and moved it to the wall on his right.

I looked in to see Bailey on the floor in a ball, he hands covering her ears and crying. The bathroom was big enough to fit three Erasers, but that would be it. There was a shower on the left side and the curtain was torn so that it was covering something. Tom walked back in to Bailey, and he crouched down to hug her.

"Shh, it's okay," Tom whispered, "What happened? Bailey, calm down. I can't understand you. Shh. What happened?"

Bailey continued to sob and raised a shaky hand to point at the shower. Tom and I exchanged a glance, and I substituted for Tom as 'Shoulder to cry on' while he checked it out. He flipped the top of the curtain off, and then put it right back on.

"Xam, get Bailey out of here," he said in a shaky voice, "and get Abby in here."

"Why, what is-?" I started to ask but Tom shouted over his shoulder, "JUST DO IT!"

Not wanting to get in a fight, I picked Bailey up and carried her out of the bathroom, and towards the living room. Abby and a bandaged Devon were sitting on the couch, Krissy was sitting on the love seat, and Rose, Kyla and Chase hadn't moved from her spot. Everyone was looking from where Tom's voice came from.

"Whoa, what happened?" Devon asked, "I haven't heard T-Bro yell like that since graduation day in boot, when I left him behind after we pranked the Drill Sergeant and he was caught by the D.S."

"Abby," I said ignoring Devon and still trying to calm Bailey down, "Tom needs you back there."

"Okay," Abby said getting up and walking past me back to Tom. I sat Bailey down on the couch, keeping an arm around her while she leaned on me.

"So, does the TV work?" Devon asked. I picked the remote up and aimed it at the cracked screen, pressing the power button. The TV flickered and then came to life with a news report.

"_And then Maximum Ride and her flock of five others helped the Californian tourists escape the EIGHTH forest fire of this year. In the "Flock Gossip" fandom, Rumors are being spread that Maximum Ride and her former second in command Fang have apparently-_"

I angrily changed the channel to something that didn't involve Maximum and her flock. Devon looked thankful, as he watched SportsCenter. Bailey quieted down as well, and all was calm...for three minutes.

"NO!!!!" Abby screeched from the back. Rose, Chase, Kyla and I stood up. I pointed at Bailey and then Krissy.

"Devon, watch them," I ordered and resumed my way to the bathroom. When we got there, Tom was hugging Abby while she cried. I looked at them and then looked into the tub and gasped. Lying dead with a chunk of wall in her head, was Chelsea. She was face down and the concrete was in the back of her skull. She smelled rotten and gross. I put the curtain back over her body. I turned around to Chase, Rose, and Kyla. I started pushing them back.

"You DON'T want to see," I said sternly. They accepted it and Tom and Abby walked out first. Abby walked to her friends out of Tom's embrace and told them what it was, causing them all to cry for their lost friend. Tom and Chase Moved the door back to where it was and we all returned to the living room.

"What happened guys?" Devon asked. Chase went over and explained it to him. Devon stood up and walked to Tom, and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Tom," Devon said, "I-I don't know what to say. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks man," Tom said with a small smile. Devon returned the gesture and then they clasped hands in a brotherhood like form. I walked up behind Tom and tapped him on the shoulder when the brother moment was over. Tom turned and gave me a sad smile.

"You saw too, huh?" He said. I nodded and wrapped my arms around his waist and he wrapped his arms around me. I leaned on his chest and he rested his head on my own. We stayed like this for a few seconds, before someone cleared their throat. We looked up to see Rose looking at us expectantly.

"What's the next plan of action?" She asked with slightly puffed eyes. Kyla and Abby were no better; Abby was sitting next to Devon and had Bailey in her lap, while Kyla was sitting near Rose on the coffee table. I noticed Chase had a look of concern locked on the back of Kyla's head. Nooo, he's not feeling _anything_ towards her...not. Then his attention turned to me. In fact, _everyone's_ attention was on me, even Krissy.

"Why are you all looking at me?" I asked. Tom nudged me.

"Aren't you the leader?" he asked. I looked up at him. What was he? Out of his mind?

"Um, No thanks!" I said backing away from him. Everyone groaned.

"Why not?" Kyla asked, "If not you then who?"

"Uhh, what about...Tom?" I suggested. Tom looked at me like I was crazy.

"What are you nuts?" He asked. I shook my head.

"No, you've got military experience, you're the one that decided to come here, and I think you'd do a much better job then me," I said. Tom let his jaw fall slightly.

"Yeah, but you've been a Hybrid longer then I have, you know what we're up against, and I'll bet the training you were given was much better then what I got," Tom argued. I huffed. We both had our eyes locked in a intensive stare-down, like if one of us looked away, the loser had to lead.

"Why not hold a vote?" Krissy suggested quietly. We both looked at her.

"What'd you say?" Tom asked, shocked. Possibly surprised it wasn't a snarky comment.

"I didn't say anything," she grumbled to him. Tom sighed.

"Listen," he said, "I know I don't know you're nam-"

"Her name's Krissy," I interrupted. Tom looked at me.

"She answered you?" he asked. I nodded.

"This is another good reason as to why you should lead," Tom grumbled.

"No, I like her idea," I said. Tom looked at me again.

"Really? A vote?" Tom said. I nodded and then he smirked.

"May the better leader win," He said. Tom clapped his hands and began, "We're having a vote. If you want Xam to lead raise your hands."

Krissy, Tom, Chase, and Rose all raised their hands. Tom counted hands.

"Four for you, hon," Tom said with a smile. I smiled right back.

"That means I win," I said. Tom thought about it for a sec.

"Crap." He muttered. Everyone snickered and I walked up to him.

"So," I said softly and slightly seductively, "Where to now, Mr. Leader?"

* * *

**AN: Well, again. I leave you with a cliffy. HAHAHAHA! I am CLIFFY KING! I want to wish you all another happy St. Patty's Day! I love this holiday...**

**Keep on Keepin on**

**Tsparks158**


	12. Chapter 11 and AN

**DISCLAIMER:**

**Tsparks: Okay. Tell me the progress.**

**Lawyer 1: I'm sorry to say that we can't get Ms. Ador and Rose to give rights to Chase, Kyla, OR Rose.**

**Tsparks: Gah, Dammit! Okay, in the words of Mr. Trump, "You're fired."**

**Lawyer 1: *starts sobbing and runs from office***

**Tsparks: Sad.......Okay, YOU. You better have good news.**

**Lawyer 2: *gulps* A-actually, I couldn't get Maxy1998 to give up rights to Bailey either.**

**Tsparks: *fumes* out....GET OUT!**

**Lawyer 2: you have no right to ju-....are those dogs I hear?**

**Tsparks: Hounds that lawyer number 132 got for me from The Simpson's set.**

**Lawyer 2: I thought they sounded familiar...*runs from room, hounds on his heels.***

**Tsparks: *shaking head* Guys, if you two don't give me good news...**

**Lawyer 3: *sigh* which window?**

**Tsparks: Left.**

**Lawyer 3: Yeah well...TalyorSwiftTwilightFan75 hasn't given you rights to Krissy, sooo... *runs and jumps out window on left, falling 145 stories***

**Lawyer 4: *swallows* JP still hasn't returned my calls about Ma- er um, Xam.**

**Tsparks: *growls* Damn...wait until he does......then contact me.**

**Lawyer 4: look on the bright side, you still own Abby, Devon, and Tom. Oh! And the plotline.**

**Tsparks: *Pulls sawed off shot gun out and shoots Lawyer 4 in the chest* Rest in peace, motherfucker. ...Damn. Now I gotta get even more lawyers.**

**Xam POV**

"OW!" Krissy yelped as Tom continued to try and get the bullet out of her shoulder. She had finally allowed him to try and get the bullet out, but it wasn't easy. It took us a good three hours to convince her it was either us, or the scientists that (most likely) tortured her. Her eyes filled with hate ate the mere mention of said scientists.

"Then hold still," Tom said again. He was trying to be as careful and effective as he could be. Krissy glared at Tom again.

"You get shot, then have the idiot who shot you trying to dig the bullet out, and then you can tell me to 'Hold Still'," Krissy snapped, "OW!"

"Got it, ya big drama queen," Tom mumbled, smirking. Okay, so...He still wasn't that happy with being elected leader, but he didn't have to take it out on Krissy. Speaking of her, she was glaring at Tom's head, possibly trying to make him explode into bits and pieces. I would never allow that, so I have to kill the tension.

"Hey Abby, why don't you sew Krissy up," I suggested, grabbing Tom's shoulder, "I need to talk to Tom..._Alone_..._Now_."

Tom got the hint and followed me out of the apartment and down the hall, away from possible eavesdroppers. When we were far enough, I slugged him in the arm.

"Xam!" Tom exclaimed, rubbing his arm, "What the Hell!? I still feel pain, you know."

"What is your problem?" I asked him, "Why are you being such an ass?"

Tom glowered at me, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with me leading."

"Why do you have such a problem with it?" I asked him in the same tone, "And why are you taking it out on Krissy? She could become a part of our group."

Tom let my words soak in and then sighed, "I don't mean to take it out on her, Xam. I ju...I'm just not good with dealing with my anger or frustration, okay? So I translate it to sarcasm and asinine remarks."

"You still haven't answered my first question," I said crossing my arms.

Tom backed into the wall and slid down it in a sitting position. He rested his arms on his knees and leaned his head back. His eyes were shut and his jaw was clenched. And we just stayed like that, in silence for a few minutes.

"I had a bad experience as a leader, Xam," He said quietly, ending the silence. I sat on his left, still looking at him.

"Wanna talk about it?" I asked. Tom smirked.

"That's all I've done Xam," he said, "I've seen psychiatrists about this. Talked to my parents, my brother, my sisters, Abby, Devon," He paused and chuckled, "Hell, even my ex, Frankie. That was before I knew she was a stalker."

"What are you saying?" I asked, a little hurt, "You don't want to share this with me?"

"No," Tom said, "What I'm saying is, I'm just so fucking sick of talking about it. I just want to forget it. It's not healthy, I know, but I was 17, _fucking_ 17, when I caused a man to die. He was an innocent bystander: loving family, friends, and all the other sappy BS. I made a choice, the wrong one. I chose the mission over the few. I did my job. And at the time, that's all that mattered. Why am I out of the SEALS? Because of the fucking dreams, Xam. Because of the looks on his face when I turned the body over...he was scared, and he was stuck like that...forever. They haunted me, for the rest of the time I was in the service."

"But was it your fault?" I asked. Tom nodded. That ticked me off. I cocked an arm back to punch him again, but he caught it.

"Let me explain, Xam," Tom said, "The reason it was my fault, was because I had been ordered to capture the man who held him hostage. Alive. And there was only one way to do that..."

"Oh, OH!" I said understanding. Tom nodded solemnly. I suddenly felt bad. I misjudged Tom again. No wonder he was so quick to understanding my life. He's been through his own problems. I pulled Tom up to stand and hugged him.

"I'm sorry, Tom," I whispered, "I didn't know. And if that's what bothering you I can lead. It's no problem."

I could practically feel his smile. Crap. I know Tom doesn't want to lead, but I don't either! I'm just Max's Clone! I'm no leader!

"I would like that," Tom said, "But everyone else already made their choice. Besides, I think we both can come to an agreement."

I looked up at him curiously. Tom had a half smile on his face.

"I'll lead," Tom said, "On the condition that you become my right ha-er, _wing_ man."

My jaw dropped, "Me? What about Devon? I thought you and him go back."

"We do, but Devon's no leader," Tom said, "He knows it. He's laid back, and he makes a much better left wing man anyway."

I continued my confused face, and Tom chuckled.

"I'm right handed, Xam," Tom said, "I favor the right more then the left."

I blinked, "Are you saying you want me as second because we're together?"

"No," Tom said, "I want you as second because no one else stood up to try and take the role."

"Oh," I said. Tom smiled again and gave me a quick kiss.

"And then, there's the bonuses of leading," Tom said hushed before he backed up. I turned red and looked at him. What did he mean by that? As if reading my mind his smile grew and he mouthed the words 'Use your imagination'. Needless to say, my blush darkened.

"Okay, so," I said stepping back and trying to clear my head, "What's the plan of action then?"

"I think we need to try and convince Krissy to stick with us," He replied. I thought it over and nodded. Tom nodded his head towards the apartment room and started to walk. I followed and caught up with him easily.

"What do you think her story is?" I asked Tom. He shrugged.

"I don't know," Tom said, "But I don't think it's all sunshine and candy canes."

"Thank you Captain Obvious," I said smirking. Tom chuckled and we continued our way to the apartment. Then we heard a crash.

"Three freaking minutes," Tom muttered, "and they've already begun to fight."

I groaned and as we walked closer to the apartment, we could hear Devon and Rose and Krissy's voices. Tom tensed visibly, which caused me to tense, and stopped in front of the door.

"Wanna see what a SEAL DI sounds like?" Tom asked with a smile. I smiled and nodded. Tom dropped his smile and his lips went into a straight line. He opened the door with force, causing it to make a bang when in collided with the wall.

Everyone stopped and looked at Tom. He looked around and took a step forward. And in the most ordering voice I have ever heard Tom said, "What in the HELL is going on in here!?"

Much to my amusement (and everyone else's) Devon stood at attention. I almost fell to the ground laughing.

* * *

**AN: Okay. I couldn't finish this chapter completely....only because I got one other story I want to try out. My updates will come as they wish. But I have to write out an Idea when it comes. Otherwise, I'll get stuck on that idea and writers block kicks in. I will return to this though, fairly shortly. And then maybe I'll go back to Dark Romeo or something else... **

**But until then, Keep on Keepin on**

**Tsparks158**


	13. Chapter 12

**AN: Ok...I am sooooooo effin pissed. My computer got a virus and I lost all my freaking data! So I have to write a completely new chapter for Xam's story...not that you're complaining...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Xam; and I am borrowing the rights to Bailey, Rose, Kyla, Chase, and Krissy from various friends.**

* * *

**Xam POV**

After that little incident (which we all had recovered from and Devon had tried to tackle Tom) in Tom and Abby's old apartment, Tom decided we should leave Cleveland. We all went around and repacked things we might have needed. Tom and I made a pit stop at his "other" room and grabbed more shirts and his jacket, which contained his cash, Swiss army knife, etc. Abby wasn't to pleased about Tom's "other room" but she calmed down after Tom explained himself. Then we left the apartment, after Tom and Devon set a little gift up just for any Itex followers.

That was three months ago today. We flew into the deep Appellation Mountains, where we camped a lot. Devon, as it turns out, was an Astrology minor. Out of all of us, Bailey was the one who was most curious about the stars (not shocking). Bailey loves to learn, as it turns out. She's always curious, always wondering, asking...It's a miracle that anyone (Tom, Kyla, and Abby) have the patience for her.

Krissy has opened up more as well. To me anyway. She was like Max's Flock and Bailey: Born and raised in an Itex facility, tested on regularly, etc. The weird thing is, she used our escape to escape by herself. Talk about irony. Tom has learned that if he wants to communicate with her, he has to ask me to talk to her. And normally that's only how they'd actually start communicating. That is, until right now.

"What can I do?" It was her first time she ever actually stepped up to Tom without him asking for her.

"What?" Tom asked unsure if she actually came up to him. Krissy rolled her eyes.

"To help pack," she said as if talking to an idiot. Tom smirked.

"We finally over being shot are we?" Tom asked smirking. Krissy scowled for one second before smiling.

"No. But I don't like just watching you, Devon, Xam, and Chase doing most of the packing. I don't like feeling useless..." Krissy trailed off. Tom nodded his head.

"It's okay; I understand what you're saying. Just go help Bailey and the others double check the packs," Tom said. Krissy nodded and went to help the others. I zipped up the duffle bag containing half of the sleeping bags we had and walked over to Tom. We stole them from a Wal-Mart after closing hours... As well as having ridiculously low prices; Wal-Mart also has ridiculously low security. No wonder people love Wal-Mart.

"So why exactly did you send her over here?" Tom asked. I shrugged.

"I didn't even talk to her. She just walked up to you herself," I said. Tom looked confused and I patted him on the cheek.

"I know exactly how you feel, Tom," I said. Tom smiled and picked his pack up. He looked at his pack with a frown.

"What?" I asked curiously. Tom dropped his bag with a solid thump. He got back on his knees and opened it up, digging through the pots and pans (Also retrieved during our Wal-Mart raid).

"It's lighter then it should be," Tom said still frowning. He stopped digging to scratch his head. He dug through the bag about 3 more times, and by the third time we were all gathered around him.

"T-Bro, I'm telling you," Devon said, with his arms crossed, "Nothin' is missing. You sure its lighter then it should be?"

Tom sighed and zipped the bag up. He stood looking at the bag before returning his attention to Devon.

"I'm telling ya, Demo, something _has_ to be missing," he said with a serious face, "Last night I couldn't lift the bag without actually putting effort and using both arms to lift that bag! I had to have missed something!"

"For the last few nights you also weren't feeling to hot, Tom," Kyla said. Chase nodded.

"Yeah, you had that killer headache and were sneezing like crazy," he said, then put his had on his chin in a thinking manner, "Not to mention that cough."

"You couldn't have just recovered from that overnight," Abby mused. She stepped forward and put the back of her hand to his head. Tom smacked it away lightly.

"Tom, it's scientifically impossible for you to have gotten over whatever you had so fast without proper medication or sleep," Abby said, "Your watches had been the longest and you haven't slept more then 15 hrs total in the past four days. Are you sure that your feel okay?"

"I'm fine! I feel amazing!" Tom said, he covered his face with a hand. He had retreated into himself again. That's his way of saying "Just lemme see if I can't figure this out". Then he snapped his head up.

"Xam," He said looking at me, "You know those weird abilities _she_ developed at that one Itex employee's house?"

About a month ago, I had informed everyone that we weren't the only "Flock" around. There were mixed reactions, and Devon suggested we try and find them to see if they can help. Kyla and Chase agreed with him. I cringed at the idea. Tom noticed and killed that plan with Abby's help. They were the only two that knew my _whole_ past. The plan now was to survive until Itex makes another move against us.

As I remembered that information, I realized Tom was talking about Max and her super speed. She developed it at Anne Walker's house in Virginia after recovering from cold-like symptoms. Tom must be thinking that he was going through the same thing.

"You developed something else, didn't you?" I asked him softly. He nodded with a straight face.

"I think that's exactly what's going on here," he said. Tom turned back to the bag that was on the ground. He put one finger underneath the strap, and to all of our shock, lifted it without any effort. He held the bag above his head with just a finger, his jaw dropped.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the _real_ Superman," Devon said smiling. Tom dropped his bag with another thump and returned his attention to us.

"This is a whole new ball game," Tom said in a musing manner, "If we all start to develop inhuman abilities-"

"We can get back at those assholes that did this to us," Rose finished. Tom smirked.

"Well _that_," Tom said, "And we can survive longer then we first imagined."

"What powers do you think we'll get!?" Bailey asked with excitement. I looked at everyone. They all had dreamlike looks in their eyes, like they were all 5 again. It's amazing what some simple mutation that make you criminals-on-the-run-for-the-rest-of-your-life can do to full grown adults.

"I don't know kiddo," Tom said picking his bag up again, "But I think we've overstayed our welcome here. Wings out guys, let's blow this joint."

We all started running through the clearing and began taking off. Tom quickly took the lead and started scanning the area from the sky. He shook his head.

"If only I was given super eyesight or something," Tom said, "I can't see diddly shit up here in this smog of a cloud."

"What are you looking for?" I asked. Tom looked back.

"The Carolina state line," he said, "I have some relatives there, and we can relax with the comfort of a bed and shower."

"Did you just say shower?" Rose asked. Tom smirked back at me.

"Why you want one?" Tom asked them.

"YES!" Rose, Kyla, and Abby shouted.

I rolled my eyes. Tom and Devon laughed. I looked back to see Bailey giggling, while Chase and Krissy were smiling. I shook my head and looked back at Tom.

"Lead on then, Mr. Muscles," I said. Tom smiled and returned his attention to try and peer through the clouds.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, Tom dropped into a dive unannounced.

_Follow him_, the voice said. I growled. It chooses now to show up? Despite my annoyance at my voice I turned to the others.

"DIVE!" I called before rushing into a dive. Devon whooped and went off into a 180 dive, making a slight spiral on his way. Chase and Kyla were in sync as they dove at the same time. Bailey and Krissy followed after them, leaving Rose and Abby to cover the back. Devon was the closest to Tom, me right behind him.

We all landed behind some houses in a Cul-de-sac. Tom looked around him in a full circle, he clenched his left hand into a fist and raised it. We all crouched and became quiet. Tom and Devon had taught us hand signals that were commonly used in the military. Well, everyone else had to learn. Tom and I threw in slight altercations to make our own signals easier to be differed, like a spread hand switched to the pointer finger pointed upwards meant "wings out". Making a small circle after that meant "Take off" Surprisingly, Krissy was the fastest at learning them. Everyone else got it soon after her.

Tom brought his hand down slowly and turned to look at us. He pointed to the west, at a forest. I nodded and motioned everyone to follow me in a run, into the woods. Tom was holding up the back. When we were 15 kilometers in, Tom spoke up.

"Okay, this is good, Stop!" He called. We all stopped running and regrouped. I looked around and took in the surroundings. Tom dropped his bag and went over to a fairly large tree.

"We're camping here?" Rose asked, "I thought we were going somewhere we could shower..."

"We are, Rose," Tom said leaning on the tree, "I just wanted to find a good meeting spot for if we had to split up, for any reason."

"Wouldn't we use your relatives place?" Chase asked. Devon, Tom, and I all shook our heads.

"This is our back up regroup spot," Devon said.

"Site B," Tom said with a chuckle. Devon, Abby, and Chase smiled at him for some reason. I gave him a confused look.

"What?" I asked. Tom had a smile on his face and looked at me.

"The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2," Tom said, "I'll show you sometime. It's a classic."

"Can I watch too?" Bailey asked. Tom nodded.

"Sure, if we ever have enough time to watch it," he said. Bailey smiled and looked excited for it. Tom looked back to the group.

"Okay, I've got a plan," Tom said getting off the tree. We all sat or knelt on the forest floor. Tom picked his bag up and put it in the middle. Devon, Chase, and myself did the same thing.

"I think," Tom said, "keyword there being think, that my sister and her husband are on their anniversary vacation. So aside from their dogs, their house is empty. It's a fairly large one, too. So we could all stay there, we just have to stay until we all have rested and rejoiced. How's that sound?"

I spoke up, "What if they aren't away? What then?"

Tom shrugged, "I'll pull something out of my ass. We could always try and get cash off her. But I doubt that'll happen. And if anything we still have...what? $700 left?"

Devon nodded, "That's what we've got. We could find a motel and get about three rooms for under $200 easy."

"You're kidding me," Rose said flatly, "That's your back up plan?"

"You got a better one?" Devon countered. Rose scowled and then leaned on Kyla.

"I remember when Devon was a man," Rose said, "Shame he had to go and tick me off."

Kyla and Chase chuckled. Devon scowled and started to snap back but Tom interrupted.

"Whoa there, Rose," Tom said, "Like I said, they _should_ be gone. So all we have to deal with is the dogs."

"Dogs?" Krissy asked, "Attack dogs?"

"More like, pets," Tom said waving her question off, "They're unbelievably friendly. We'll be fine."

"Then let's go!" Bailey said jumping to her feet. We all smiled at her eagerness. Tom nodded.

"Okay, you heard her guys," Tom said, "Let's find out if we'll be living in luxury or crashing at the nearest Motel."

* * *

A good twenty minutes later, we were in front of a fairly large house. Tom was standing in front of the door, his hand on the knob. He turned the door and opened it with a soft click. Tom's smile grew. I faintly heard barking and clacking of nails against wood. Tom pushed the door open.

"Back, Get Back!" Tom said entering the house, "It's okay guys, come on in!"

We all entered the house and our jaws fell at what we saw. Tom was on his knees smiling and rubbing two labradors behind the ears; one was a light yellowish-tan and the other was a solid black. The dogs turned and saw us. They started to growl. Tom whacked them lightly on the noses.

"Bad. We don't growl. It's okay guys, they won't bite. Just let them get a sniff of you," Tom said. He stood up and gripped the dogs' collars so he could keep them from really going anywhere.

"Sit," Tom said. The dogs sat down immediately.

"Now why can't you do that?" Abby jokingly asked Tom.

"Oh hardy har, har," Tom said rolling his eyes, "Just come here and let them get your scent."

We all took turns standing in front of Tom and holding our hands to the dogs. The fur standing on their backs went down and they started panting. Tom let go of their collars and they stayed seated.

"What are their names?" Kyla asked. Tom gestured to the black one.

"This is Chomper," Tom said, "Her name says it all. Be careful how you act around her, she loves to play and biting is her way of showing it."

Bailey walked closer and started petting Chomper. In return she was licked on the face. Bailey started laughing and continued to play with Chomper. The rest of us smiled at her. Tom knelt down and began petting the yellowish-tan lab.

"This is Bear," Tom said, "As a pup he looked like a teddy bear. Bear, say hi."

Bear barked once. Tom smiled and resumed petting Bear. Chomper stopped playing and walked over to the door. She sniffed it before lifting a paw up to scratch at it. Tom stood up.

"You guys wanna go outside?" he asked the dogs. Both were in front of him in a split second. He left the front room and the dogs followed.

I took in the details of the room. There was a TV on the left wall. And across from that there was a couch and love seat set up similar to they way Abby and Tom's old place. A Lay-Z-Boy chair was in the right north corner of the room. With various other décor, it made for a really good looking living room.

"So what now?" Chase asked. I picked my bag up and went over to the table in front of the couches. I set the duffle bag down and unzipped it.

"Simple," I said, "We unpack."

* * *

**AN: And there's a good chapter if I do say so myself. I'm going to DC on Sunday for most of the week. Why, you ask? SPRING BREAK!**

**Here's a head's up. In the next Chapter, you'll get a sneak peak to the Sequel of FANG: Archangel in Disguise.**

**Until then, I ask for only one thing:..................REVIEWS!**

**Keep on Keepin on**

**Tsparks158**


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: You all know exactly what I'm going to say, so there is no need to say it.

**Unless of course you've decided to read the story backwards...why, I would have no friggin clue.**

**Ugh, so in short, Xam (Max II) belongs to James Patterson. Rose, Kyla, and Chase belong to Ms. Ador and Rose. Bailey belongs to Bailey1998...She changed her screen name. Krissy belongs to TalyorSwiftTwilightFan75.**

**In short I own Jack-shit. Crude language, maybe... But it works.**

**The following story has been rated M for Mature...Too bad none of us here are.**

* * *

**Xam POV**

Tom walked back in with a stack of papers in his hand, going through them casually.

"What you got there, Tom?" Abby asked. Tom shrugged.

"Letters, notes, checks, and...My birthday card for this year! All right! Just scored us some more cash," Tom said pulling the one hundred dollar bill out of the card. He carefully put the card back to where it was. He pocketed the bill and walked over to the couch and sat down on it. The rest of us resumed our unpacking.

"Don't bother," Tom said, "We're only staying two, three days tops."

"Aw," Bailey and Krissy chorused. Everyone snickered. Tom smiled.

"The reason I say that is because I don't want the chance that we'll run into anyone I might know," Tom said, "I don't want to risk anyone else's safety for longer then we have to."

"Okay," the girls sighed out. Seeing as that was sorted out, we needed to plan out what we'd be doing next.

"So after we bail out from here?" I asked. Tom shrugged.

"Hear Florida is nice this time of year," Tom said casually. Kyla and Chase snickered.

"That is the corniest thing you've ever said," Rose said. Tom gave her smirking look.

"Are you sure? Last time you said that, I was talking about your teeth a year ago," Tom countered. Abby, Krissy, and Devon laughed, while Rose scowled. Bailey and I let out soft giggles. Chase and Kyla were stifling laughter by covering their mouths with their hands. Rose turned to them.

"Oh shut up, lovebirds!" Rose said. The two of them stopped and blushed wildly. Bailey, Krissy and I stopped laughing. Abby and Devon laughed even harder. Kyla looked embarrassed and stood up.

"I'll be right back," she muttered. She turned towards the door.

"No, Come on Ky," Rose said, "I was kidding."

"Whatever, Rose," Kyla said walking out the door. She slammed it shut behind her. Tom clapped his hand against his head. He sighed, lowered his hand and looked at Abby.

"Abs, Follow her," he said. Abby stopped laughing and went out after Kyla.

"I'm gonna look around the house," Chase said quietly. Tom nodded.

"Devon, go with him," He said again. Devon smiled.

"No prob," Devon said walking out of the room with Chase. Tom turned his attention back to Rose.

"Why'd ya have to go and say that, Rose?" Tom asked. Rose gave him a 'You're kidding me look'.

"You can't be seriously telling me you don't see it," Rose said, "I can practically _feel_ it."

"I see it," Tom said, "But _I_ plan on letting them sort it out themselves. I know you Rose. You love to play matchmaker. I'm putting my foot down; you don't bug them about it. Understood?"

"What do you mean by, "not bugging them about it"?" Rose asked.

"You don't corner Kyla into talking to Chase about whatever it is they may or may not be feeling," Tom said sternly, "It's hard enough babysitting Demo, _again_, but I'll be Dammed before I baby sit them, too."

"What does that mean?" Bailey asked. Krissy rolled her eyes.

"It means he doesn't want Rose to get involved," She answered. Tom cleared his throat and sent a look their way. They both smiled innocently at him. He shook his head and looked back at Rose.

"Go find Kyla and Abby and apologize," he said, "I don't need you all mad at each other."

"Fine," Rose sighed out, "But I can't promise I won't talk to her about it from time to time."

"That's none of my concern," He replied. Rose went out the door following Abby and Kyla. Tom leaned back into the couch, and closed his eyes.

"I didn't realize I would be playing camp counselor," he groaned. Krissy and Bailey giggled. I smiled at him.

"You should take a nap Tom," I said, looking at the dark marks under his eyes. Tom yawned and nodded.

"I should," he started, "But I can't. I need to be alert."

"The mind needs rest, goof," I said pushing him to a semi-laying position on the couch. He curled his upper lip for a second before his breathing evened out. I looked at Krissy and Bailey and lifted a finger over my mouth in a silencing manner.

"Let's go find a place for you two to clean up a little," I whispered. They looked at each other and then back to me before nodding. We all stood and left the room. I found an empty room with a large enough bed for Bailey and Krissy to share. Krissy and I moved on while Bailey lingered around in the room, she was just looking around and resting on the bed.

Krissy and I continued our own exploration of the largish house. We mostly did it in silence. Then Krissy started up the conversation.

"So how long have you known Tom?" She asked. I groaned. I so didn't want to have this conversation with a fifteen year old.

"Does it matter?" I asked. Krissy nodded.

"I've known him for...3 years," I said. I was lying, but she didn't need to know exactly how long we've known each other.

"You're lying," Krissy said, "I know it. I don't know how I do, but I know you're lying."

"You think to deeply into things," I said. On the inside however, I was freaking out. How did she know I was lying!?

"Come on Xam," Krissy said, "I can practically _feel_ that lie as if it was a pinch on the arm. I've been able to tell when someone is lying whenever I get that feeling."

"Wait," I said stopping and turning towards her, "How long have you been able to do that?"

"About a year now," she replied, "I never told the _scientists_ though, I just knew that they would increase the amount of testing I would do. Why?"

I put a hand under my chin and thought. There was an Itex experiment based around making a human lie-detector at the facility Krissy and I were made in. I guess they accidentally succeeded.

"It's your mutation," I said.

"My what?" Krissy asked.

"Like Tom's strength," I said, "You have the natural ability to sort through people's lies."

"So I'm a human lie detector? That's so lame..." Krissy said. I shook my head.

"That's not true," I said, "If we ever have to interrogate anyone, At least we know when their lying or not. And I have a feeling we will be doing that shortly."

Krissy opened her mouth to reply, but a holler from Devon turned our attention away.

"Guys! You _have_ to see this!" he called. Krissy and I raced back to where Tom was resting. Now he was wide awake, he was already heading towards where Devon's voice is coming from. We followed him up the stairs and into the firs room on the left. Devon was staring in awe looking at Chase. Chase was standing near the computer and on the screen multiple internet pages were flying by one after the other.

"Chase? Chase? CHASE!?" Tom said trying to get his attention. Chase blinked and the computer shut off.

"Whoa," Chase said turning to us, "What just happened?"

"Technopathy," I said, "Like Nudge..."

"Nudge?" Chase asked. I looked back at him.

"The girl from Maximum's Flock," I said, "She has something along the lines of technopathy. But I think you got the whole shebang, Chase."

"Sweet," Chase said smiling. Tom did a quick head count and looked at me.

"Where's Bailey?" Tom asked. I looked around.

"I thought she followed me," I said. I turned around and went back out the door down the stairs. Tom was hot on my heels as we headed back to where Bailey was last seen. We (Tom) skidded to a halt in front of the bedroom door. I scanned the room for Bailey; there was no sign of her. But there were photo albums scattered around the room. Tom sighed.

"She found Sue's Photo albums," Tom groaned, "I hope she hasn't found _that_ picture yet."

"What picture?" I asked with a smile. Tom didn't say anything he just walked into the room and went to the closet. I smirked knowing I would have to get more info on this mysterious picture later. Tom started digging through the closet.

"Bailey!" Tom called digging through the closet, "Where you at?"

I heard a muffled sound come from the bed and tapped Tom on the shoulder. He looked at me and I pointed at the bed. A lump was visible there. Tom smirked and raised a finger to his lips. I smiled and nodded.

Tom walked over to the bed and reached for the sheets. When he whipped them off, our jaws dropped. Sitting right smack dab in the middle of the sheets was a small black Labrador Pup.

"Does your sister have three dogs?" I asked Tom. He slowly shook his head.

"No," He said, "They only have two."

I looked back at the puppy that was happily panting and looking at us. I noticed something peculiar. It had baby blue eyes just like a certain seven-year-old avian-hybrid.

"Bailey?" I asked looking at the pup. And to our amazement, the pup nodded and barked. Tom and I looked at each other and then looked back at Pup/Bailey.

"We need to get the others back here," I said.

"Now," Tom agreed. He picked Pup/Bailey up from the bed and lifted her up to his face so they were face to face.

"Can you try and change back now, Kiddo?" Tom asked. He was licked on the nose in response. I giggled. Tom set Pup/Bailey back on the floor and we stepped back. Before our eyes she changed back into the normal avian-hybrid Bailey. She was smiling back at us.

"I got a power too!" she beamed. Tom and I looked at each other and then back at her.

"You mind telling us that next time?" Tom asked, "When you ...change, you lose your only form of communication. We can't help you if you can't call for us."

Bailey looked at her feet a little ashamed. I gave Tom a look. She didn't do anything wrong, she's only seven for crying out loud! I knelt in front of her.

"But now you know and that's all that matters, right?" I asked. Bailey looked up and nodded.

"Good," Tom said with a smile, "Let's go see if we can't find everybody, huh?"

We all walked back out to the living room. The two dogs were back inside, laying on the floor. Devon and Chase were sitting on the couch, Krissy sitting on the loveseat, and Devon was flipping through the channels.

"Where are Abby, Rose and Kyla?" I asked. Devon looked at me and shrugged.

"I dunno, Xam," He said, "Last I checked they were still ou-"

Before he could finish Rose had thrown the door open with one hand. With the other she was holding onto Kyla's feet and Abby was at the other end. They carried her inside. We all rushed to their side. Tom and Chase took Kyla from Abby and Rose and laid her on the couch.

"What happened, Rose?" I asked. Rose shook her head.

"I don't know," she replied, concern written on her features, "One minute we're all walking back and everything is fine and dandy, the next she's on the ground shaking. We don't know what happened!"

Tom and I shared a concerned glance. We went back to Kyla's unconscious body, Chase resting her head on his lap, and gave her a look over. Tom then pulled me out of the room, silently telling me we had to talk. We made it into the kitchen and we stood and looked at each other.

"What the flying fuck is going on Xam?" Tom asked. I shook my head.

"I don't know, Tom," I said, "But apparently you all are gaining abilities. My guess is we'll all have some by the time we leave."

"Well, that's ........Good?" Tom said unsure. I shrugged in response. I was about to open my mouth when Abby let out a yelp.

"What _now_?" Tom groaned as we re-entered the living room. We got there and everyone was now looking at Abby.

"What happened?" I asked. Abby looked at me.

"I-I asked Devon to hand me a rag, when it came flying at me!" She said with a slightly shaking voice.

"It _flew_ at you?" Tom asked incredulously. Abby nodded. Tom put a hand on his head.

"Would you people _PLEASE _stop playing in the toxic waste!?" He exclaimed.

* * *

**AN: And yes, that last second was a tribute to JP...who no doubt about most of you are pissed at due to **_**FANG**_**. **

**Ok, I am officially in love with doing Cliffies. I think some of your responses are hilarious and random (I like the random ones the best).**

**And NOW The moment you've all been waiting for...The preview to the Sequel of FANG: Archangel in Disguise; FAITH: Archangel in Disguise II.**

* * *

**Faith POV**

"Faith! Come on wait up!" He called from behind me. I turned to face my best friend/secret crush. Phoenix had really grown up over 10 years. He was about 5' 11" and his body was already toned, most likely due to Bones' and Dad's Training exercises. His hair was long like "Uncie" Zack's used to be, but with the maroon red accented blonde hair instead of a solid blonde like Auntie Zoë.

"Well if you're gonna be slow about it, Phe-O," I said using his childhood nickname, "We have to hurry or we'll miss Dad's show. It's not everyday he performs at the Bar."

"Well, not like they used to," Phoenix said catching up. I nodded. We resumed our casual walk back to the Bar.

"And with both our mom's being pregnant, we're in for possibly even less performances," I said sighing a little. Phoenix patted my shoulder.

"I'm as disappointed as you are, Faith," Phoenix said, "But on the bright side we'll be able to see them for longer amounts of time!"

I smiled, "Thanks Phoenix. You always know how to cheer me up."

Phoenix smiled back, "It's my pleasure, Faith."

My heart stopped for a split second. His smile was really breath-taking. My heart sped up and I turned my attention back ahead of me, and I didn't like what I saw. There was a ambulance in front of the Bar.

"Phoenix! LOOK!" I said pointing at the Emergency vehicle parked in front of Bones' Bar & Grill. Phoenix turned his attention back ahead of us and we started sprinting to the Bar. I was silently praying that everyone was safe.

* * *

**AN: HOW WAS THAT!? HUH!? Come on, You gotta admit it: You can't wait for the Summer now, can you?**

**Well, Go ahead and keep re-reading this chapter cause Tomorrow I'm off to Washington DC! Spring Break, gotta love it.**

**Keep on Keepin on**

**Tsparks158**


	15. AN

**AN: For the readers of my other stories, I am sorry to say I am only going to be working on two, maybe three total.**

**I am going to be working on AiD 2 and MR: The Canadian Ride.**

**For the expectant readers of La Muerete, I am starting that back up once I finish AiD 2. And after I get where I want to with TCR, I will resume Dark Romeo. I am going down the list of my most preferred fics. So for now, I bid you, adieu.**

**Never Give Up**

**T-Bones158**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Okay, so an idea for this story JUST hit me. Bear with me people. I don't own maximum ride...I still wish I own Xam...**

**WARNING: ANOTHER LEMON. sorry.**

* * *

**Xam POV**

"Good night, Bailey. Good night, Krissy," Tom said as he shut the door to the girls' bedroom.

Everyone was getting ready for bed. Rose, Abby, and Kyla (who recovered but blushed heavily after waking up in Chase's lap) were taking the spare bedroom near Krissy and Bailey. Devon and Chase volunteered to take the living room, meaning the Master Bedroom was mine and Tom's. Tom and I said our goodnights to the others and then retreated to the upstairs.

"So what if someone follows us here?" I asked Tom.

"I talked to Devon about it," he said, "He and Chase volunteered to take watch tonight. Abby'll take watch at around four in the morning."

"No watch for me?" I asked. Tom smirked.

"Asks the girl who's had watch for the past three nights straight. It's Chase's turn and you need rest," said Tom. I sighed and my shoulders drooped. I felt Tom wrap an arm around my shoulders.

"It's okay, Xam. Besides, I still haven't told you the best part about the master bedroom," Tom said with humor in his voice. I looked at him curiously.

"Ok, what's the best part?" I asked him. He grinned.

"It's soundproofed," he whispered.

My jaw dropped, but I quickly replaced it with a huge smile. It's been over a month since Tom and I had some time alone together...and I could certainly use some Tom time. I grabbed his hand and started running up the stairs. I ran towards the master bedroom and threw the door open. I whipped Tom in front of me and pushed him towards the bed. He stumbled backwards onto the bed; he lifted his head up to look at me.

"Xam!" he whispered/shouted, "What the He-?" I cut him off with a passionate kiss. He didn't argue further. Tom rolled us over and broke the kiss to take his shirt off. His red wings stretched slightly and he leant back in for more. We kissed again and I rubbed in between his wings. Tom moaned into my mouth and then broke the kiss again.

"I can see why you like that," he whispered. I giggled and we resumed kissing. Tom took his time taking our clothes off. When we were both in the nude, I was on top.

"Ready?" I asked him. He nodded, "yeah. Go for it, Xam."

I slid onto him and bit my lip to silence my moan. It's been TOO long. I slid completely onto him and Tom released a moan. Tom's hands were on my hips and his wings were spread slightly so we didn't crush them. I started moving up and down and we both moaned loudly. My wings spread slightly with each movement. Tom's hands ventured up to my breasts and he grasped them lightly. I moaned softly and continued my bouncing on his member.

Tom moved his hands back to my hips and he gripped them lightly. I prayed in the back of my head that the room WAS soundproofed, so that no scarring incidents occurred. But for now, the only thought in my mind was, "_Oh my god...I almost forgot how good this feels!_"

We continued for a good ten minutes before Tom finished with a groan. I collapsed on top of him, finishing for what had to be the fourth time. After he slid out, he rolled us and hugged me close to himself and I returned the gesture. I hugged him and draped my wings over us and his draped over mine. Tom kissed me softly on the lips.

"I love you, Xam," he whispered.

"I love you, too, Tom," I whispered back. We kissed again before the bliss of sleep claimed us, and a dream where there was no Itex after us awaited me.

* * *

I awoke the next morning looking into the sleeping face of Tom. I smiled as I felt the slight exhale of his breath and leant my forehead against his. After a few minutes of watching him sleep, I tried to get up and go shower. Tried being the key word as Tom's grip around me was hard to break. I struggled a few more minutes before realizing the only way to get out of bed is to wake Tom up.

"Tom. To-om. Tooo-ooom," I cooed to him in a soft tone. He made what could have been a childish groan.

"Fifteen more minutes," he muttered. I made a small pout.

"But I want to get up and start the day," I said in an innocent tone. Tom opened his left eye and looked at me.

"Yeah, but I want to stay in bed for fifteen more minutes. Who knows when we'll get another chance like this?" He argued softly. I jutted my bottom lip out playfully.

"Please, Tommy?" I begged in a childish manner. Tom sighed, realizing he was beaten, and released me from his hold and stretched with a yawn. I giggled and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you," I whispered into his ear. He nodded and finished stretching. I got up and out of bed and headed to the bathroom that was attached to the bedroom and went into the shower.

I turned the handles on to a warm setting and began showering when I heard the shower curtains open. I turned ready to strike, just to see Tom stepping in.

"Whoa! Can't a guy take a shower with his girlfriend these days?" he asked blocking my readied strike.

"Make a noise or something then would ya?" I replied playfully. He smirked and wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck.

"Didn't anyone tell you? I'm a ninja." Tom said in the same playful tone. I rolled my eyes and turned around to face the shower head. Tom kissed the back of my neck.

"Stop," I said squirming under his kiss, "I'm trying to get clean."

"Aww, but I like you dirty," Tom whined playfully. I turned around and removed his hands.

"I mean it, Tom," I said seriously. Tom stopped smiling.

"Sorry," he said with a half-smile, "but uh, if we are going to shower...how does one bird-boy wash his wings?"

I smiled and leant up to his ear and whispered, "He asks his bird-girl girlfriend to do it." I leant back down and saw Tom's beaming smile.

After our very ...relaxing shower, Tom and I got dressed and went down stairs to see the very awake Devon watching the News.

"Hey _lovebirds_," he said snickering out 'lovebirds', "Don't know about you, but I think these other bird-kids are doin' something right."

We looked to see the special was on, who else, but Maximum Ride and her Flock of six. I went over to the TV and changed the channel.

"Hey! I was watchin' that!" Devon exclaimed. I ignored him and turned around and went over to the loveseat. Tom walked over to me and pulled me up, took my spot, and then pulled me back down onto his lap. I leaned onto his chest as we watched _FOX News at 9_.

"Well," Tom said to Devon, "Xam and Max have a ...bad history. So for now, you're just gonna have to deal."

"Psh, whatever man. Go ahead and take your girlfriend's side, I just wanted to take a look at the ones that came before us," Devon said. I looked over at him.

"They aren't that different from you guys, if anything, they're obsolete compared to you guys," I said. Tom smirked and Devon looked dumbfounded. Tom kissed my head.

"Thanks, Xam," he said, "There's a compliment that'll shut him up."

I smiled and went back to watching the news which was about a teen firefighter that was gunned down in gang-war crossfire. Devon shook his head.

"That's just wrong," he said, "Wars aren't supposed to be fought by high school kids."

"I agree," Kyla said walking out from her room, "Wars in particular are just wrong."

"I think it depends on the cause," Tom said, "But for Turf wars, its just people who had poor childhoods and made bad mistakes. I feel bad for them honestly, and yet I don't pity them because it's their choice. As it's said, 'One can not judge others without judging one's self.'"

"You have a point," Kyla said, "But I still think its wrong."

"And you're entitled to that," Chase said walking in from the kitchen. Kyla smiled shyly at him.

"Thanks, Chase," she said. Chase blushed lightly.

"A-Anytime, Kyla," he said. She blushed lightly back.

"A-Hem!" Rose said clearing her throat, "Did anyone make breakfast? I'm starving."

"I'm making it now," Abby said from the kitchen. Rose bee-lined for the kitchen. Krissy and Bailey emerged from their room, yawning.

"Hi girls," Tom said, "Hope you two didn't make a mess, we're movin' out after breakfast."

* * *

**AN: Sorry for the short chapter...summer school and football practice are kicking my ass. So anyway, review and what not.**

**Never Give Up**

**T-Bones158**


End file.
